Cybersecurity

Cyberattack targets Maine healthcare provider’s computer servers

A cyberattack targeted a major Maine healthcare provider’s computer servers over the weekend, leading the company to temporarily take all of its patient records offline.

Northern Light Health told News Center Maine that its patient records were not on the affected servers, but they took down all of their servers as a precaution while the situation was investigated.

“We discovered an abnormality in our systems,” Suzanne Spruce, a senior vice president at Northern Light Health, said Saturday. “We looked at it and out of an abundance of caution decided to bring our servers down.”

The company said in a statement that there is no indication any of their information is being held for ransom.

“Our teams have worked around the clock this weekend to conduct a thorough review of our servers and ensure they are in working order,” the companys said in a statement posted online Sunday. “We are continuing this work throughout the night and anticipate our electronic medical records will be back online during the day tomorrow. This is a big job and our focus as always is patient safety and privacy.

Patient care was not affected by the downtime, and all Northern Light Hospitals remained open through the weekend.

All servers were expected to go back online Monday.

The source of the cyberattack on Northern Light Health is not yet known. The investigation into the cyberattack is ongoing.

Northern Light Health operates 10 hospitals and eight nursing homes in Maine and employs over 10,000 people across the state.