Kansas Heart Hospital Is One of the Latest Victims of Ransomware

The healthcare center was held hostage by hackers and denied access to its files until it paid them. 

"I'm not at liberty because it's an ongoing investigation, to say the actual exact amount. A small amount was made," the hospital's president, Dr. Greg Duick, said. 

But even after the hospital paid, the hackers didn't return full access to the files. Instead, they demanded another ransom. The hospital says, it will not pay again.

"The policy of the Kansas Heart Hospital in conjunction with our consultants, felt no longer was this a wise maneuver or strategy," Durick said.

The hackers never reached patient information.

About 9 p.m. on May 18, a hospital employee lost access to files.

"It would be like you're working on your computer and all of a sudden, your computer says, sorry can't help you anymore," Duick said. "It became widespread throughout the institution."

The hospital is working with its IT team and security experts to restore the rest of the system.