The First Nations Health Authority in British Columbia has confirmed falling victim to a cyberattack, as revealed in a recent media release. The intrusion into its corporate network was detected on May 13, prompting swift countermeasures to prevent network encryption by the attackers. While certain employee information and limited personal data of others have been impacted, there’s no evidence suggesting any compromise of clinical information systems.
To address the breach, the health authority has enlisted the support of external cybersecurity experts and reported the incident to law enforcement and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. Despite the severity of the attack, there’s no indication that it’s connected to other notable cybersecurity breaches in the province, such as the allegedly state-sponsored attack on the B.C. government and the ransom demand faced by London Drugs.
The health authority emphasized that the nature of the attack differs from previous incidents, including the London Drugs ransomware attack, which resulted in a multi-million dollar demand from the LockBit ransomware gang. B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth noted the distinctiveness of the FNHA attack compared to previous cybersecurity events in the region. As investigations continue, efforts are underway to secure systems, assess the extent of the breach, and safeguard sensitive data from further compromise.
