Armentières hospital victim of cyberattack, emergency rooms closed for the day

The pirates demand a ransom. This is the first time that the Armentières hospital has been the victim of such an attack.

The Armentières hospital center was the victim of a cyberattack during the night from Saturday to Sunday at 2 a.m., France Bleu Nord learned on Sunday February 11 from the hospital management. The pirates demand a ransom from the hospital. The emergency department is closed for the next 24 hours, patients are being redirected to other hospitals.

“The printers turned on started printing a message, indicating that our data was encrypted and that we should contact them”tells franceinfo Samy Bayod, deputy director of the Armentières CH. “We immediately disconnected the entire hospital network, we have been isolated since 3 a.m.,” he specifies.

Only maternity emergencies remain accessible

A crisis unit, made up of security professionals from the Armentières hospital but also from the Lille CHR, was set up at 5:40 a.m. to restore the situation; all the establishment’s computers are disconnected from the network in the meantime. “For the moment, we do not know the extent of the attack,” specifies Samy Bayod. “Cyber ​​attacks are increasing, we have protections in place.

“This is not the first time that a cyberattack has occurred, but it is the first time that it has managed to pass through protective barriers.”

Samy Bayod, deputy director of CH d’Armentières

at franceinfo

The emergency room is closed until Monday morning as the hospital cannot effectively accommodate new patients without a computer system. They are therefore redirected both by on-site staff, by the Regional Health Agency and by the SAMU treatment center to other hospitals in the Lille metropolitan area.

Caregivers are still on site, in Armentières, in case a life-threatening emergency arises and the maternity emergency department remains open on Sunday. The 130 patients already treated by the hospital are not affected by this cyberattack; their files have been printed to maintain their monitoring.