University Medical Center (UMC) in Lubbock hit by ransomware attack
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The University Medical Center (UMC) in Lubbock, Texas, is reporting a ransomware attack that started on Thursday 26th of September 2024. As a Level 1 trauma center, UMC plays a critical role in the region's healthcare, being one of the few facilities outside major Texas cities with such capabilities.
The attack has caused significant IT outages, affecting multiple systems, and forced the hospital to divert patients to other local healthcare facilities. This has disrupted the hospital’s ability to fully operate, including its phone systems and patient portal, and has severely impacted communication with patients.
Despite the ransomware attack, the hospital's Emergency Department, Urgent Care, and Physician Clinics remain open, but UMC is temporarily diverting ambulance patients to other hospitals out of caution until its systems are fully restored.
UMC has not disclosed whether any patient data was compromised.
UMC is working with a third-party entity and its staff to resolve the situation, but no timeline has been provided for the full restoration of its systems.
Update - as of 22nd of November 2024, UMC provided additional information of the attack. The attack was confirmed to be a ransomware incident where threat actors gained unauthorized access to the network for approximately 10 days. During this period, the attackers accessed and potentially exfiltrated sensitive files before deploying ransomware that disrupted system availability. UMC Health System has since restored their systems and resumed normal operations.
The exposed sensitive information included:
- Patient names
- Residential addresses
- Dates of birth
- Social Security numbers
- Medical diagnoses
- Health insurance information
- Healthcare provider names
- Treatment dates
As of November 22, 2024, notification letters are being sent to affected patients. The number of affected individuals are still not disclosed. The organization has established a support line operating Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Central Time for affected individuals.
