Harris County's public mental health provider has suffered an apparent ransomware attack, the second suspected cyberattack on the provider's sensitive patient and employee data in less than three months. "This past Tuesday November 7th, the Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD experienced what appears to be a ransomware attack that resultd in the encryption of some employee working files, making them inaccessible to the employees," the Harris Center and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo's Office said in a joint statement issued Wednesday. Harris Center officials shut down their network in an attempt to stop the attack from spreading, which has limited staff access to files and caused "Some delays to patient care" as a result, the Harris Center and Judge Hidalgo's Office explained in the statement. The Harris Center is not releasing further information about the incident "At the advice of their cyber security experts." The incident has been reported to law enforcement, according to the joint statement. The suspected breach marks the second apparent cyber attack on sensitive Harris Center records in less than three months. In late August, an attack by a Russian ransomware group compromised nearly 600,000 Houston-area mental health patients' private personal and medical information. The group exploited a vulnerability in the software to gain access to confidential files from multiple companies and public institutions across several industries, according to Homeland Security officials. The information exposed by the August breach, depending on the individual, included the patient's name, address, date of birth, Social Security number, health insurance information and "Protected health information."
This Cyber News was published on www.lmtonline.com. Publication date: Thu, 30 Nov 2023 23:19:27 +0000