Ascension reveals cause of cyberattack

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – Ascension has identified the cause of its cyberattack that led to the compromise of its electronic health records.

An employee working in one of its facilities accidentally downloaded a “malicious file” that they thought was legitimate, Ascension said in a statement.

“We have no reason to believe this was anything but an honest mistake,” Ascension said in an update on June 12. “Importantly, we have no evidence that data was taken from our Electronic Health Records (EHR) and other clinical systems, where our full patient records are securely stored.”

Ascension’s latest update says all that electronic health record access has been restored across its hospitals.

“This means that clinical workflow in our hospitals and clinics will function similarly to the way it did prior to the ransomware attack,” the hospital group said. “This also means patients should see improved efficiencies in appointment scheduling, wait times for appointments and prescription fulfillment. However, our investigation into this incident is ongoing, along with the remediation of additional systems.”

A patient has filed a class action lawsuit against Ascension about the attack.

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