Canadian hospitals disrupted by cyberattack against shared service provider

Five Ontario, Canada-based hospitals had their operations disrupted following a cyberattack against their shared service provider TransForm, which was co-founded by the impacted health providers for IT and supply chain management, reports BleepingComputer. Such an attack has prompted IT systems outages at TransForm, according to the service provider, which noted that patients Windsor Regional Hospital, Hotel Dieu Grace, Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, Erie Shores Healthcare, and Hospice of Windsor-Essex, would have to defer their scheduled appointments as a result of the incident. Investigation into the extent of the cyberattack is underway but there has been no evidence so far suggesting any patient data compromise. The hospitals have also issued a joint statement noting that all patients with upcoming appointments will be informed of rescheduled dates or alternate arrangements. "Also, we would continue to ask if you are not needing emergency care to attend your primary care provider or local clinic to reduce the impact upon the Hospitals as we work towards addressing these issues and focus on those needing hospital care," said the statement.