New York Blood Center Enterprises (NYBCe) this week announced that it has taken certain systems offline after falling victim to ransomware.
The blood bank said it identified suspicious activity on its network on January 26, and immediately engaged third-party cybersecurity experts, who confirmed that the organization was facing a ransomware attack.
“We took immediate steps to help contain the threat and are working diligently with these experts to restore our systems as quickly and as safely as possible. Law enforcement has been notified,” the organization said.
The incident, it announced, has affected both NYBCe and its operating divisions, but the organization has been in direct communication with donor centers, hospitals, and other stakeholders, “implementing workarounds to help restore services and fulfill orders”.
The blood bank continues to accept donations, but warns that processing times may take longer than usual at donation centers and blood drives.
“Donation center activities and blood drives may need to be rescheduled. If we determine any donation appointments need to be rescheduled, we will let our donors know as quickly as possible,” NYBCe announced.
The organization did not provide a specific timeline for when the affected systems will be restored, nor did it share details on which ransomware group was responsible for the incident.
SecurityWeek has contacted NYBCe for additional information on the ransomware attack and will update this article as soon as a reply arrives.
NYBCe, part of which are blood centers across the US, provides blood products to more than 400 hospitals in 17 states, as well as cellular therapy, specialty pharmacy, and medical services to over 200 academic, research, and biopharmaceutical organizations in the country.
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