Cyberattack hits Taiwan’s first geriatric hospital, exposing over 80,000 patient records

Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare confirmed on Monday, April 21, that Chansn Hospital, a key medical facility in Taoyuan City’s Zhongli District, was the target of a ransomware attack that compromised the personal medical data of more than 80,000 patients. The breach, which was detected last week, has prompted a full-scale investigation and raised fresh concerns over the security of the island’s healthcare infrastructure.

The attack on Chansn Hospital, Taiwan’s first specialized geriatric hospital, follows a troubling pattern of recent cyber intrusions targeting medical institutions across the country. Authorities suspect the latest incident may be linked to a broader campaign that previously struck Mackay Memorial Hospital and Changhua Christian Hospital, signaling a growing vulnerability within Taiwan’s healthcare sector.

Unusual activity in the hospital’s network systems was first detected on Wednesday, April 17, triggering immediate alerts and prompting the facility to activate emergency cybersecurity protocols. In response, hospital administrators disconnected both internal and external networks, reverted to manual operations including paper-based record-keeping, and began scanning their systems for malware. A formal police report was filed the following day, according to local media reports.

The hospital subsequently received a ransom email, which investigators have linked to international hackers. Zhongli Precinct police have confirmed the cyberattack is being treated as a criminal case under Taiwan’s computer crime laws, with suspicions of overseas involvement. Authorities have not disclosed the amount demanded by the attackers, nor whether any ransom has been paid.

Li Jian-zhang, head of the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s information technology division, confirmed the breach during a press briefing, stating that Taiwan’s national cybersecurity agencies have been notified and are intensifying surveillance measures across healthcare systems nationwide. He also urged patients affected by the breach to closely monitor their medical and financial records for any signs of identity theft or misuse.

As of Saturday, April 19, online registration services at Chansn Hospital remained unavailable, though staff have been accommodating patients through phone and in-person registration. Several essential services — including appointment bookings, new patient intake, and prescription processing — continue to be disrupted.

The hospital, which was formerly part of the Hsinchu An Shen Clinic system, provides critical services for a largely elderly patient base, with an emphasis on dialysis care and diabetes management. It also offers long-term care for up to 10,000 patients, making the potential scale of the data compromise particularly severe.

Technical teams at Chansn Hospital are currently reinstalling antivirus software and restoring IT infrastructure. Under Taiwan’s official ransomware response protocols, the hospital will be required to report the full extent of the data breach once it has been verified.