A ransom payment was not made in connection with a cyberattack that disrupted systems at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, according to multiple officials.
UMMC vice chancellor of health affairs Dr. LouAnn Woodward told SuperTalk Mississippi’s Richard Cross that the state of Mississippi did not compensate hackers following the Feb. 19 cyberattack. State Sen. Nicole Akins Boyd, who chairs the Universities and Colleges Committee, corroborated Woodward’s assertion.
The two were adamant that the hackers had not been paid after State Auditor Shad White said his office would look into the incident and notify the public if the government had paid a ransom.
“The taxpayers, you and I, who put that money up, we will know,” White said on Mornings with Richard Cross. “We may never know the exact mechanism that the hackers used to get in — for good reason. But we will ultimately know what that dollar amount was.”
The cyberattack impacted the hospital system’s phones, website, records database, and IT systems, causing partner clinics to shut down for nine days and healthcare staff to use pen and paper to jot down patient information. UMMC was finally cleared to return to full operations on Feb. 27.
As officials collaborated with federal and state law enforcement partners to identify the source of the attack, check to see if sensitive information had been compromised, and get systems up and running, the hackers reportedly made monetary demands. Officials maintain that those demands were not met.
White’s team confirmed to SuperTalk Mississippi News that the auditor is working to see if those claims are accurate. The auditor’s office plans to reach out to the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL), which was also the subject of a cyberattack, regarding the state’s response to the attacks. The attack on the IHL affected the agency’s student financial aid office. IHL officials said individual universities were not impacted.
IHL governs UMMC and all other public universities in Mississippi. The auditor’s team is specifically looking to determine whether or not taxpayer dollars went to those behind the cyberattacks.
“The auditor’s office plans to be in contact with the IHL about these recent cyberattacks so we can get answers and transparency for taxpayers,” Jacob Walters, communications director for White’s office, said.
This is a developing story.
