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A major hospital system in northern Florida said on Friday that it was redirecting some emergency room patients and canceling surgeries following a security incident with information technology.
Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare said the issue started affecting their systems Thursday night and has forced hospital to turn off its IT network.
It shows signs of a ransomware attack, but the hospital has yet to describe it as such, calling it an “IT security issue” instead. Victims at least initially refuse to confirm ransomware attacks.
A statement from the hospital said it had rescheduled appointments for non-urgent patients and had diverted some patients in the emergency room. It said it did not move patients currently in the hospital to other facilities.
All non-urgent procedures have been canceled and rescheduled, the statement said. It is unclear when the systems will be back online. The hospital said it worked with law enforcement.
The hospital, based in Tallahassee, offers health care across 21 counties in northern Florida and southern Georgia, according to its website.
network security company Emsisoft says there are 25 ransomware attack related to hospitals or hospital systems last year.
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