Musings of a CMO: Enterprise-wide extended downtimes

Over 30 centuries ago, as the myth goes, the Greeks constructed a wooden horse that hid a small group of warriors to enter the seemingly impenetrable city of Troy. For ten years the Greeks had tried to breach the defenses of the city and it took a seemingly simple act of trickery to gain access and unleash mayhem. Unfortunately, hospitals across the country face unrelenting attacks from cybercriminals and it only takes one unsuspecting individual to inadvertently open the gate for a Trojan horse malware or virus and all hell breaks loose.

I remember getting computer viruses through downloading software from the Internet or installation CDs. Most only had an irritation value where alerts would pop up with marketing messages or banners. Cyberattacks are more nefarious now with intent to lie dormant, encrypt data, and steal sensitive information. That is a double whammy where systems are disrupted and clinical care held hostage by cyber goons.

This past December, while staff were waiting for Santa to show up with gifts and good cheer, our defenses were breached. A complete shutdown followed, but our staff came together with our EMS and hospital partners to respond in a manner that would make the NSA and CISA proud. This was perhaps best summed up by a patient who told us their care was so good they would not have known we were in downtime if it was not on the news and social media.

? Chakshu Gupta, MD · tinyurl.com/cguptaMD