cyberattack

Federal officials say they are working to develop rules to help health care facilities protect themselves against threats. But they say more money is needed from Congress to help hospitals protect themselves.

Akumin says it first noticed suspicious activity on Oct. 11 and the hacker apparently accessed files containing personal data. It stopped scheduling appointments in eight states, including as many as 50 clinics in Florida.

The lawsuit alleges the hack was preventable and that the hospital “exacerbated the harm” by failing to notify those affected until “months” after the attack.

The attack is disrupting facilities operated by Prospect Medical Holdings, which is based in California and has hospitals and clinics there and in Texas, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania.

Consumers should know that medical identity theft can happen, whether from a large-scale breach or theft of an individual's data. The result could be thousands of dollars in medical bills.

U.S. hospitals have seen a record number of cyberattacks over the past few years. Getting hacked can cost a hospital millions of dollars and expose patient data, and even jeopardize patient care.

The hospital hasn’t been specific about the type of security issue that brought its computer network offline two weeks ago, but experts say the evidence points to a ransomware attack.

A week after the IT breach, the health system said more emergency patients are being accepted while “significant progress" has been made to bring affected computer systems back online.

An IT threat at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare is ongoing. In an update sent Tuesday, the system said some elective procedures have resumed.

The attack occurred on the network for Intrado, the company that provides telecommunications services for the 988 helpline. The agency did not disclose details about who it believes launched the attack.