DeKalb Health is the latest victim in the fight against hackers as the Indiana healthcare facility reported its administrative computer systems have become infected with ransomware.  

Healthcare systems are becoming easier targets to ransomware, a software installed in computers by hackers that blocks anyone else from gaining access until a ransom is paid. This trend partially explains why the number of healthcare data breaches due to criminal activity rose from 20 percent to 50 percent in the past five years.

“I am pleased to say many of our administrative systems are already back online. I am immensely proud of our entire staff. We anticipate administrative computer disruptions among other scenarios as part of our normal training and everyone did their jobs wonderfully,” said Craig Polkow, DeKalb Health CEO. “We are investigating the matter with the support of a leading third party forensics firm. It is our goal to learn the facts and bring our systems completely back online as expeditiously as possible."