French Hospital Postponed Operations and Transferred Patients due to Ransomware Attack

A ransomware attack at France’s Andre-Mignot Hospital in Versailles over the weekend forced technicians to turn off computer and phone systems, and doctors had to cancel surgeries and transfer some patients to other medical facilities.

The hospital’s supervisory board told local media that the perpetrators behind the incident had already demanded a ransom. The exact amount is not specified, but the leadership of the Andre Mignot hospital has already stated that it is not going to pay extortionists.

In France, by the way, public institutions never pay a ransom, because the law forbids them from doing so.

Currently, the hospital accepts and consults only patients who applied to the medical facility without an appointment, and planned surgeries and other interventions (chemotherapy, radiation therapy, etc.) are mostly cancelled or patients are redirected to other departments.

The government also said the hospital promptly quarantined affected systems to limit the spread of malware to additional devices and notified the National Security Information Systems Agency (ANSSI) of the incident.

ANSSI and the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office are currently investigating this cyberattack. What exact extortionist group is behind the attack on the Andre Mignot hospital is still unknown.