Ransomware gang hits hospitals in Kentucky and Indiana, millions affected

More than two million people have been affected by a ransomware attack against Norton Healthcare.

Norton Healthcare, a not-for-profit healthcare system consisting of dozens of clinics and hospitals in Kentucky and Indiana, informed its clients on December 18th about a “cybersecurity incident” that affected its internal systems.

According to a notice sent to affected clients, the incident was “determined to be a ransomware attack.”

Norton claims that it has notified the FBI, restored its systems from secure backups, and not made any form of ransom payment. The Office of the Maine Attorney General states that 2,500,000 people were affected by the ransomware attack.

With more than 20,000 employees and over 1,750 employed medical providers, Norton Healthcare is the Louisville area's third largest private employer, located at more than 140 locations throughout Greater Louisville and Southern Indiana.

Over two million people affected

Based on the company’s investigation, unidentified threat actors were able to access certain network storage devices between May 7th, 2023, and May 9th, 2023, but did not access Norton Healthcare’s medical record system or Norton MyChart, an online medical record platform.

However, the threat actors still acquired some personal data from Norton’s current and former patients and employees, as well as employee dependents and beneficiaries.

Among the stolen data were names, contact information, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, health information, insurance information, and medical identification numbers.

Some of the breached information also included driver’s license numbers or other government ID numbers, financial account numbers, and digital signatures.

Norton has offered two years of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection services to affected individuals.