Nothing believed stolen: Hackers demanding ransom from Saskatchewan eHealth

REGINA — Hackers have made it through the first level of security surrounding Saskatchewan’s electronic health records and have locked the government out of some systems.

Jim Hornell with eHealth Saskatchewan told CTV News the hackers are demanding the government pay an unspecified ransom to regain control.

The electronic information warehouse stores the personal health data of Saskatchewan residents, but the government says it believes nothing has been stolen.

Hornell says staff can’t get access to some administrative files, so can’t do their daily work, but he says patient information hasn’t been compromised.

He says eHealth officials are monitoring the situation closely.

eHealth says it will not pay the ransom and the case has been turned over to police for investigation.

Hornell says Saskatchewan’s health records are attacked about 100,000 times a day.

“Cybersecurity and cybercrime is a huge enterprise and we are constantly under attack,” Hornell told CTV.

The Opposition feels the government bears some responsibility for the attack.

“The Ministry of Health has a responsibility to ensure that eHealth is supported, so that it can do its job, but, unfortunately, we’ve seen a consistent inability to provide that support on behalf of the government,” said NDP legislature member Vicki Mowat. (CTV Regina)

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 7, 2020

News from © Canadian Press Enterprises Inc. 2020