Ransomware Hits Blood Center Serving 250+ Hospitals In Southeast U.S.
A cyberattack on the nonprofit blood donation center OneBlood has thrown a wrench into operations at an organization that typically serves over 350 hospitals across four states. This digital mischief targeted OneBlood’s software system and is being investigated as a ransomware event, where hackers infiltrate a company’s network and lock up important files until a ransom is paid.
Based in Orlando, OneBlood is teaming up with cybersecurity experts and various authorities for a “comprehensive response” to the attack. Although donation centers are still collecting, testing, and distributing blood, the organization admits that “they are operating at a significantly reduced capacity.”
“OneBlood takes the security of our network extremely seriously. Our team reacted quickly to assess our systems and began an investigation to confirm the full nature and scope of the event,” said Susan Forbes, the senior vice president of corporate communications and public relations at OneBlood, in a statement. “Our comprehensive response efforts are ongoing and we are working diligently to restore full functionality to our systems as expeditiously as possible.”
Errol Weiss, chief security officer at the Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center, shared with CBS News that OneBlood informed the Florida Hospital Association they have no timeline for restoring digital operations post-hack, which might have started impacting their software system as early as Sunday.
By Tuesday, the outage had already disrupted blood product shipments to its Florida partners, Weiss said. At that point, the association noted that OneBlood had begun manually labeling blood donations and had a plan to speed up the process, according to Weiss.
Because the work takes much longer to perform manually than it would with the organization’s digital system up and running, OneBlood has less inventory than usual to distribute out to its partners and is urging more people to donate.
OneBlood’s inventory is lower than usual.
Because manual labeling is much slower than their digital system, OneBlood’s inventory is lower than usual, prompting them to urge more donations. “In an effort to further manage the blood supply we have asked the more than 250 hospitals we serve to activate their critical blood shortage protocols and to remain in that status for the time being,” Forbes said.
“The blood supply cannot be taken for granted. The situation we are dealing with is ongoing. If you are eligible to donate, we urge you to please make an appointment to donate as soon as possible.”
With donation centers spread across the southeastern United States, OneBlood typically supports 355 hospitals in Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas. To counter the current shortfall, OneBlood is partnering with blood centers nationwide and a national disaster task force to send additional blood, platelets, and other blood products.
They’re calling on donors of all blood types, with a special emphasis on O Positive, O Negative, and platelets. Donors can find the nearest OneBlood center here.
In the meantime, here’s what cybersecurity experts suggest if you’re worried.
Here’s what you can do in the meantime as they continue to investigate the breach, according to experts. Keep an eye on any medical updates and your accounts. Also, protect yourself from identity theft by checking for any suspicious activity with your bank and credit card accounts, like someone trying to access them or open new accounts in your name.
