Leading US renal care and dialysis provider DaVita said it experienced a significant ransomware incident that affected its daily operations and forced it to resort to interim solutions to continue patient care.
Headquartered in Denver, Colorad, DaVita is a leading provider of kidney dialysis and comprehensive kidney care services, primarily serving patients with end-stage renal disease. Operating over 2,600 outpatient treatment centres, DaVita is a Fortune 500 company with operations in 12 countries globally.In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, DaVita said that on April 12, it suffered a significant ransomware attack that involved threat actors infiltrating the company’s internal network and deploying malware to encrypt systems, rendering them inaccessible.
The company immediately launched an investigation, with assistance from external cyber security experts, to determine the scope of the incident. It also took steps to contain the incident, activate its response protocols, proactively isolate the affected systems, and notify relevant law enforcement agencies about the incident.
“The incident is impacting some of our operations, and while we have implemented interim measures to allow for the restoration of certain functions, we cannot estimate the duration or extent of the disruption at this time,” reads the notice.
The healthcare company, however, added that despite the operational hindrance, it is providing patient care to the best of its ability.
“Given the recency of the incident, our investigation and response are ongoing, and the full scope, nature, and potential ultimate impact on the Company are not yet known,” the company added. DaVita is yet to share the complete data security incident notice on its official website.
At the time of publishing, no known hacker group claimed responsibility for the cyber attack on DaVita. The company also did not share details on who was behind the attack, how much data was compromised, or whether it has received a ransom demand.
