Manatee Memorial Hospital reports ransomware incident involving patient information
Manatee Memorial Hospital on Tuesday reported an incident involving the protected health information of patients.
Letters were mailed to potentially affected persons beginning Dec. 12, the hospital said in a news release. The notice did not disclose the number of affected patients.
ESO, a third-party vendor that provides software and other services for hospitals, emergency medical services and others, reported on Oct. 27 that it detected a ransomware incident.
There is no evidence to date to suggest that patients’ protected health information was misused, according to ESO.
“On Sept. 28, 2023, we detected and stopped a sophisticated ransomware incident, in which an unauthorized third party accessed and encrypted some of ESO’s computer systems. We immediately took the affected systems offline, secured our network environment, and engaged third-party forensic specialists to assist us with investigating the extent of any unauthorized activity,” ESO wrote in an online post describing the incident.
What else to know
▪ Information involved: The affected data varied by individual, but it may have included personal information such as names, phone numbers, addresses and some sensitive personal or health information.
▪ What the hospital is doing: Once Manatee Memorial learned of the incident, it launched an investigation and requested that ESO provide notices to affected individuals and relevant government agencies on behalf of the hospital. ESO has indicated that it has secured the deletion of all affected data and has taken all reasonable steps to prevent the data from being further published or distributed.
▪ What individuals can do: ESO recommends that individuals remain vigilant by regularly monitoring account statements and credit history for any signs of unauthorized transactions or activity.
▪ More Information: Learn more at the https://www.eso.com/notice-of-cybersecurity-incident/.
ESO has representatives available to assist with questions regarding this incident, between the hours of 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Call ESO’s helpline at 866-347-8525 with any questions. If you did not receive a letter but would like to know if you were affected, contact ESO’s helpline.
