New York health clinic forced to shut internal network following a ransomware attack

Planned Parenthood of Montana, a New York-based reproductive health clinic, said it experienced a major ransomware attack by the RansomHub hacker group that forced it to take its systems offline.

 

In a statement shared with the media, Martha Fuller, CEO and President of Planned Parenthood of Montana, said that on August 28, the company identified suspicious activity in its internal network and launched an investigation, with assistance from eternal cyber security experts, to determine the nature and scope of the incident.

 

Fuller said the health clinic implemented its incident response protocols that included taking the affected network offline as a proactive security measure to prevent the attack from spreading to other systems. It also notified relevant law enforcement authorities, including the state police and the FBI, about the security incident.

 

“We are grateful to our IT staff and cyber security partners, who are working around the clock to securely restore impacted systems as quickly as possible, and who are tirelessly investigating the cause and scope of the incident. That investigation is ongoing,” Fuller said.

 

While the clinic did not initially share details of who was responsible for the data security incident, the RansomHub ransomware group claimed responsibility for the incident and listed the organisation as a victim of its data leak site.

 

According to screenshots shared on X, the group claims to be in possession of 93GB of confidential data allegedly stolen from Planned Parenthood and threatened to publish the same unless its ransom demands are met.

 

 

Acknowledging the hacker group’s claims, Fuller said, “We are aware of the RansomHub post and want to assure our community that we are taking this matter very seriously. We have reported this incident to federal law enforcement, and will support their investigation.

 

“We also want to thank our providers and health center staff, for working to minimise any operational disruptions and continue providing care to our patients. We appreciate our community’s patience and understanding as we work to address this incident,” Fuller added.