Tuesday, 26 March 2024
    04
    May
    Aged Care, 040521

    Provider suffers cyber attack

    A cyber attack has led to health and aged care provider UnitingCare Queensland being cut off from accessing the national My Health Record system, ABC News reports.

    The ABC has confirmed the Commonwealth’s digital health watchdog moved to suspend the provider’s access to the system that allows patients to view their records securely on any device connected to the internet at any time.

    UnitingCare Queensland, which operates four hospitals and dozens of aged care and disability services around Queensland, was first hit in the attack on Sunday.

    A spokesman for the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA), which oversees the My Health Record system, said it stopped UnitingCare Queensland’s access to the system as a precautionary measure.

    “[The suspension was] in line with our responsibilities as the system operator of the My Health Record system and associated national digital health infrastructure”, the spokesman said.

    The ADHA also undertook an urgent scan on its national infrastructure, specifically looking for signs of the malware that affected UnitingCare Queensland.

    The ADHA spokesman said the scan returned a negative result.

    UnitingCare Queensland has released scant information about the attack, but it is thought to involve hackers trying to take possession of systems or important information like patient records and threatening to either destroy or publish them on the dark web, unless the provider pays a ransom.

    On Friday, Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said UnitingCare Queensland’s data had “not been compromised”.

    Dr Young said the provider was “working through” what information might have been available to the attack.

    FULL STORY

    UnitingCare cyber attack prompts suspension from My Health Record system, affects staff pay (ABC News)