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eHealth Saskatchewan was the victim of a ransomware attack early Sunday.
The company that manages electronic records for the Saskatchewan Health Authority said the attack was immediately detected by antivirus software and staff were alerted.
“We know that no information has found its way out of our organization but we’ve begun shutting down some of our servers and repairing and restoring them,” eHealth CEO Jim Hornell said Monday.
“What we’re discovering is that some of our administrative systems have been impacted and so some files have been encrypted. That basically means they’ve been sort of locked down and requests for ransom have been issued.”
Hornell declined to say how much was demanded by those who perpetrated the attack, but he did say eHealth won’t be paying.
Hornell said staff members were having difficulty opening some of their files Monday and there may be what he called “challenges” with video conferences. He was adamant, however, that every patient’s medical information in the system was safe.
“We know that some of our files have been infected, so what we’re doing really is closing down some of these systems and rebuilding them and making sure that there’s no ransomware in there,” he said.
“Most people are not aware this is even going on out in the clinical world in the health system as such because our clinical systems seem to be safe and well-protected.”
Hornell said eHealth faces “thousands of attacks each day,” but this one was more dangerous because it actually got into the system. While it didn’t get anywhere, it’s another example of cyberattacks the organization faces.
“It’s an ongoing battle,” Hornell said. “People out there seem to target certain industries at certain times and I guess our number came up.”
It’s unclear how long eHealth’s system will be affected while staff rebuild the servers. Hornell said it could be hours, but he admitted it could be days or even weeks.
“We don’t know,” he said. “We just know that we have our hands full right now. It’s not business as usual and we’re making sure that people’s medical information is protected.”
Saskatchewan NDP health critic says attack ‘shows vulnerability’
Sunday morning’s ransomware attack on eHealth raised more questions from Saskatchewan’s official opposition party.
NDP health critic Vicki Mowat said the breach needs to be “taken seriously,” and they’ll be following the file closely to ensure information isn’t compromised.
“People should be able to trust that their health records are secure, so it’s quite concerning when we hear about a data breach on this scale,” Mowat told 650 CKOM.
“Unfortunately, we know the government has failed to support eHealth’s ability to deliver the results that Saskatchewan people expect.”
Mowat said this is more concerning following the recent LifeLabs data breach, which may have compromised the information of thousands of people in the province.
“It shows that these attacks are happening. We need to ensure that we are mitigating risk as much as possible, and protecting people’s information.”
Mowat said the uncertainty around the situation also “shows vulnerability” towards the organization.
— With files from 650 CKOM’s Brent Bosker and Brady Lang.