More than 400 hospitals across the United States have been weakened by the cyber attack, which has forced staff to cancel surgeries and work with pens and paper.

• Universal Health Services, a hospital chain with more than 400 locations, has been hit by a cyber attack and its computer and telephone systems have been disabled.
• Attack, first announced Sleeping computer, Contains signs of a ransomware attack in which hackers hijack a system’s systems and refuse to return them unless the victim pays a high ransom.
• The UHS, one of the largest hospital chains in the country, had to cancel surgeries and replace ambulances as it scrambled to counter cyber-attacks.
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The unprecedented cyber-attack against one of America’s largest hospital chains has compromised computer and telephone systems in hundreds of hospitals this week.

Universal Health Services, which Works More than 400 hospitals across North America began experiencing malfunctions Sunday night that forced all staff out of computer systems and prevented them from re-entering. Sleeping computer First announced.

Those failures continue for several days, forcing hospitals across the United States to postpone surgeries and divert ambulances. UHS President Mark Miller said The Wall Street Journal On Monday evening UHS shut down its own systems after a hack was detected to prevent further damage, thus delaying some operations.

While some hospital operations have been affected, none of the patients have been affected by the malfunction, Miller added.

The UHS did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s questions about the nature of the attack. Company a Report It posted on its website that its systems were suffering from an “IT security issue” but did not confirm the specifics of the attackers’ methods or objectives. None of the patient data were compromised, the UHS said.

According to UHS staff who spoke to Sleeping Computer, the attack appears to have endured the signature characteristics of a ransomware attack. Ransomware attackers use malicious code to compromise a company’s computer systems and then demand that victims pay to regain access.

Ransomware attacks have changed Increasingly frequently In recent years, and Hospitals are a major target. Attacks on hospitals have increased between COVID-19 Report As hospitals move from Microsoft to new, unfamiliar telemedicine sites, there is a growing shortage of money during epidemics.

Hackers see hospitals as valuable targets because their systems are so important to the well-being of patients that they are more likely to pay the ransom. In addition, the health data of patients is considered valuable, says Torston George, a researcher at Centrify, a cybersecurity firm.

“The UHS incident is the latest in a series of health-centric ransomware attacks,” George told Business Insider. “While hospital systems are very important and many lives are at stake, health care providers are more likely to pay the ransom for a speedy return.”

According to cybersecurity experts and law enforcement agencies – including FBI – Targets should avoid redemption at all costs in order to get hackers out of the business.