DAYTON, Ohio — Kettering Health said in an update Friday that it’s been aware of employees, partners and members of the communities being targeted by scam texts, emails and calls following a cybersecurity incident that affected its systems.
The health system is urging the community to be cautious of these messages and said the following advice:
- Do not respond, click links or open attachments
- Hang up immediately if contacted by phone
- Report suspicious messages to the police
Additionally, CEO Mike Gentry sent out a letter to staff, informing them of the latest updates regarding the cybersecurity breach.
Last Tuesday, the Kettering Health announced “unauthorized access” caused the cybersecurity issue, which limited access to some patient care systems and affected the call center.
Gentry said it’s not certain who caused the unauthorized access.
“The group is most likely not based in the U.S. Each day, we have attempted to give updates as we receive more information. I wish the updates could be more definitive; however, we need to first assess what has occurred, resolve issues, and then bring back functionality,” Gentry wrote in the letter.
Gentry said what they do know is that the breach affected a “relatively small subset” of data. He said once an analysis is complete, impacted individuals will be contacted. He also urged staff to let the compliance team know if they receive any type of scam message.
The health system has been steadily recovering from the incident. This week, it announced that its emergency departments and Radiation Oncology technology are back up and running. Kettering Health is continuing to post updates on its website.
