Thousands of users of the North Health Network were harmed after the cyberattack suffered by a computer server at the Joaquín Paz Borrero hospital.
“They encrypted the information on server number 4 with passwords and left us a message asking for a ransom for the information. They do not talk about an amount, they talk about making a contact with them in 72 hours, otherwise the rescue of this information will be more and more expensive, ”explained Angie Gutiérrez, manager of the North Health Network.
Users’ personal data is not at risk, said the official. The authorities should have activated the contingency plan. However, the situation affected the scheduling of appointments through the virtual platform, among other processes.
Users must prepare the requests in person at the 17 IPS that make up the network. The attention is from 07:00 to 17:00.
“That does not mean that we are not going to agree to their medical or dental appointments, but that they cannot be done through the platform but rather in person. We are increasingly vulnerable to this type of attack, so we are taking the necessary measures so that it cannot be presented, all the necessary technical corrective measures to remove this server from our software”, indicated Gutiérrez.
“These measures are related to updating equipment, updating software, virus licenses and, above all, having permanent backups. If all the IPS follow these rules, it is very difficult for the process to continue,” said the District Health Secretary, Lucy del Carmen Luna.
Position of the Mayor of Cali:
María del Pilar Cano Sterling, mayor in charge of the capital of the Valley, pointed out that the hacking has already been reported to the Attorney General’s Office, who carried out the corresponding investigations to identify who is behind the computer attack on the North Health Network.
“All the routes were immediately activated to bring this fact to the attention of the Prosecutor’s Office so that the investigations can begin. And we have to be very clear: We are not going to give in to handing over money for the rescue of information. We do not accept any type of blackmail, it is public information, of all our users and it is our right to guarantee them all the attention ”, he argued.
Currently, the North Health Network serves 30,000 users, distributed in 17 IPS located in the northeast of Cali.
Comments