Erie County Medical Center confirms Easter ransomware attack
A cyberattack that crippled computer systems at Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) in Buffalo, New York, in April was ransomware, the hospital confirmed.
The 550-bed facility was attacked on Easter weekend. According to Buffalo Business First, the level 1 trauma center still hasn’t fully recovered from the episode, which caused a full shutdown of its the electronic health record and billing systems. The hospital emphasized it didn’t pay the ransom demanded by the hackers.
“We did not pay anything to anybody,” ECMC President and CEO Tom Quatroche Jr. said. “The FBI and the security companies both were pretty emphatic about not paying. You end up becoming a target.”
The attack was unrelated to the recent “WannaCry” ransomware attack which hit British hospitals on May 12.
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John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.