Tag Archive for: States

Ransomware attack on Prospect Medical Holdings takes down hospital systems in 4 states

/in


A ransomware attack late last week on Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical Holdings spread to hospitals in at least four other states before the healthcare group took its systems offline to prevent any further spread.

The attack hit hospitals and medical facilities at Prospect Medical Holdings affiliates in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Texas.

Officials with Prospect Medical affiliate Crozer Health Network in Pennsylvania said impacted hospitals included Crozer-Chester Medical Center, Taylor Hospital, Delaware County Memorial Hospital and Springfield Hospital.

CBS News reported that officials at the hospital in Springfield said the hospital had reverted to a paper system because most of the computers are offline and are not expected to come back online until later this week. CBS also reported that two hospitals in Rhode Island — Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima — were also hit. 

In a Facebook post, Waterbury Health in Waterbury, Conn., said it had experienced a data security incident that disrupted its operations. Upon learning of the incident, all systems were taken offline to protect them and an investigation was launched with the help of cybersecurity specialists.

“Waterbury Health network continues to serve patients at all its locations using downtime procedures, but a few of its outpatient services have been affected, including outpatient blood draw and diagnostic imaging services which were not available Friday and Saturday,” said Waterbury Health.

Industry analysts said this latest attack mirrored the attack last fall on CommonSpirit Health in which the corporate entity was attacked in an attempt to infiltrate the corporate network and spread to affiliates. In both cases, cybersecurity officials took the networks offline to prevent any further spread — a common tactic among cyber defenders.

“Shutting off systems and networks helps prevent spread of the attack,” said Will Long, chief security officer at First Health Advisory. “However, it does not limit the other impacts on the healthcare community.”

Long said when a healthcare system or facility is impacted in a community, patients are diverted to other facilities. The neighboring…

Source…

Ransomware Attack Disrupts Health Care in at Least Three States

/in


A ransomware attack this week on a California-based health care system forced some of its locations to close and left others to rely on paper records.

The system, Prospect Medical Holdings, which operates 16 hospitals and more than 165 clinics and outpatient centers in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Southern California, announced the cyberattack on Thursday.

A Prospect Medical spokesman could not estimate on Saturday when services would return to normal. It was not immediately clear how many of the system’s sites were affected.

On its website, Eastern Connecticut Health Network, an affiliate of Prospect Medical, listed locations that would be closed until further notice, including a medical imaging center, an urgent care facility and an outpatient blood-draw center, among others.

CharterCARE Health Partners, a Rhode Island affiliate, said on Facebook Thursday that it had to reschedule some of its appointments and to revert to paper records. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that computers were also down at Crozer Health facilities in Delaware County.

“Prospect Medical Holdings, Inc. recently experienced a data security incident that has disrupted our operations,” the company said in a statement on Saturday. “Upon learning of this, we took our systems offline to protect them and launched an investigation with the help of third-party cybersecurity specialists.”

The company said it was focused on “addressing the pressing needs of our patients as we work diligently to return to normal operations as quickly as possible.”

It did not provide details on the nature of the security breach.

Waterbury Hospital, in Waterbury, Conn., said on Saturday that it was continuing to have disruptions. It also said that some of its outpatient and diagnostic imaging services had not been available on Friday or Saturday. On Thursday, it said it was relying on paper records.

Cyberattacks on hospitals have become more common, said John Riggi, senior cybersecurity adviser to the American Hospital Association.

In 2022, One Brooklyn Health, a hospital group that serves low-income neighborhoods in New York, was hit by a cyberattack that also forced staff members to use paper records….

Source…

Joint Statement on the Strategic Third Neighbor Partnership between the United States of America and Mongolia

/in


August 2, 2023

Vice President Kamala Harris welcomed Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai to Washington, D.C., on August 2nd to celebrate the strategic Third Neighbor partnership between the United States and Mongolia. The two sides acknowledged the advancement of U.S.-Mongolia relations since the 2019 declaration of the two countries’ Strategic Partnership, which has provided a firm foundation to promote and strengthen bilateral relations. Ties between our two countries are at their strongest point yet and have developed on the basis of shared principles, respect for good governance, sovereignty, the rule of law, and human rights, as well as Mongolia’s Third Neighbor policy. 

The United States applauded Mongolia’s efforts to expand relations in the region and around the world, thus contributing to international stability. In this context, our two countries shared respective views on ensuring a prosperous, peaceful, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. Together, the United States and Mongolia are expanding our strategic partnership with a focus on building economic resilience, promoting democratic principles and institutions, and strengthening our security cooperation. As strategic Third Neighbors, we will sustain our close partnership and forge ties between our citizens to ensure their continued prosperity and security. 

Deepening Economic Cooperation

The United States and Mongolia are partnering on joint responses to the 21st century’s most difficult economic challenges, exploring opportunities to increase trade and investment through bilateral cooperation and regional trade mechanisms. Our countries share a desire to deepen the bilateral economic relationship in areas of mutual interest and to pursue opportunities for cooperation in the mineral resources sector, clean energy, food security, and the digital economy through existing and new mechanisms, including for capacity building and trade promotion. 

Mongolia introduced the priorities of Mongolia’s New Recovery policy and related project implementation through public-private partnerships and Mongolia’s Vision-2050 long-term development policy. Both Governments…

Source…

Australia-United States Joint Leaders’ Statement – An Alliance for our Times

/in


We, Prime Minister Albanese and President Biden, meet at a uniquely consequential time for our Alliance, the Indo-Pacific, and the world.

Our partnership reflects more than one hundred years of trust, respect, friendship and shared sacrifice. Our relationship is founded on a shared commitment to supporting an open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific, and a peaceful, inclusive and rules-based international order based on respect for international law and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states. It is anchored in shared values of democracy, the rule of law, and the protection and promotion of human rights.

Today we renew these bonds as we enhance the Alliance to respond to evolving challenges.

Addressing Climate and Biodiversity Action, and Clean Energy Transition

Today we have signed a statement of intent to advance our climate cooperation through the Australia-United States Climate, Critical Minerals, and Clean Energy Transformation Compact. We are taking urgent action to elevate global climate ambition, accelerate the global clean energy transition, and support mitigation, adaptation and resilience efforts in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. The Compact affirms the position of climate and clean energy as the third pillar of the Alliance, alongside our defence and economic cooperation.

Under the Compact, Australia and the United States intend for our private sectors, resources, and industrial strength to drive innovation and accelerate the establishment of a responsible, secure, and inclusive global clean energy economy. We intend to coordinate to spur the diversification and expansion of clean energy supply chains, address the growing energy demands of the Indo-Pacific, and enhance the Indo-Pacific’s role as a primary driver of global prosperity. The newly-established Australia-U.S. Forum on Clean Energy Industrial Transformation and Taskforce on Critical Minerals will allow both our countries to deepen cooperation to deliver sustainable, resilient, and secure critical minerals and clean energy to the world and reduce emissions.

Our countries are committed to halting and reversing environmental degradation, including via environmental…

Source…