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Hackensack Meridian Pays Ransomware

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New Jersey's largest hospital system, Hackensack Meridian Health, paid hackers a ransom after a ransomware attack disrupted its services earlier this month. Hackensack Meridian Health is a $6 billion, non-profit health provider system based in Edison, N.J.. It operates 17 hospitals, nursing homes and outpatient centers. The hospital system was attacked on Dec. 2, crippling its computer software systems for five days.

The attack affected the hospital's computer software systems, from scheduling and billing systems to labs and radiology. The ransomware forced the hospitals to reschedule 100 non-emergency appointments and surgeries earlier this month. The hospital system did not state how much ransom was paid, or whether its data has since been recovered. It also did not give further information about how systems were first infected and what data was affected.

In October, healthcare data breaches jumped 44 percent month-over-month, with 661,830 healthcare records being exposed or stolen during the month. The healthcare industry is still not prepared to deal with ransomware attacks according to many security specialists. Other hospitals and healthcare networks that have been hit by ransomware over the past few months, including the DCH Health System. In fact, like Hackensack Meridian Health, DCH Health System in October also opted to pay out the ransom.