Alarming case recently reported in Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago experienced a cyber attack leading to the theft of personal info of over 791,00 people and as such signifying the severe invasion of the privacy of multiple consumers and the potential threat they may be exposed to. It was discovered in February 2024; the attack showcases various threats that the health sector is increasingly at risk for.
This attack was not quickly mitigated and was said to have taken more than a month, which points to a deep penetration of the hospital’s network. Executive of the hospital said that their network was infiltrated by ‘known criminal threat actor’, but it has not been determined who the threat actor is though details of the group are not well known. This breach does not only come as a warning to the safety of such confidential health data but also the general security of such core healthcare facilities.
To address the breach, Lurie Children’s Hospital has had to involve their own IT team of specialists and security and, additionally, local and federal law enforcement agencies, namely the FBI. My Chart portal is a communication and data access tool in the hospital; however, it continues to be inaccessible which profoundly impacts the hospital’s working and patient care delivery.
This incidence is happening while the federal authorities are cautioning about the increased cyber-risk to the healthcare practitioners and their institutions, including threats that could result in harm. This incident at Lurie Children’s Hospital revealed to the world that no organization and, therefore, no health facility is immune to cybercriminal attacks and, therefore, the need to step up efforts in the development of better cybersecurity protocols to safeguard patient data and hospital functioning.
New in this investigation, the healthcare community and all the related stakeholders are encouraged to reconsider and improve the cybersecurity measures in order to avoid such a breach in the future. Whatever is the result of this breach will shape the Cyberspace Policies to the extent of treatment of patients not only the Lurie Children’s Hospital but also other Hospital or Healthcare Center worldwide.