The nation’s healthcare organizations, many of which are overwhelmed by the COVID-19 pandemic, also are having to defend themselves from cyber attacks targeting valuable patient data. Two organizations are working through the aftermath of attacks that have affected operations.

In the first case, a cyberattack on the Okanogan County, Washington, government computer infrastructure has driven multiple regional offices offline, including the Public Health department, according to Health IT Security.

First reported on Jan. 18, the entire computer system is down, as well as the phone and email systems. As a result, officials said services to the community have been affected. The county’s “specialized team” is working to bring the system back online. In the meantime, officials warned that offices are open but limited in the services they can provide.

In the second attack, Philadelphia-based Einstein Healthcare Network is just now notifying some of its patients of a breach to their protected health information caused by a hack of its employee email system in August 2020.

On Aug. 10, suspicious activity was detected in several employee email accounts. The accounts were secured by resetting passwords, and officials said they contracted with an independent forensics firm to assist with an investigation.

Click here to read the article.