Cyberattack Could Cause a Blood Supply Problem

More than 250 hospitals in the Southeast have been told to "activate their critical blood shortage protocols" on the heels of a cyberattack on a blood-donation nonprofit. CNN reports OneBlood—which provides blood products to hospitals in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and North and South Carolina—was the target of a ransomware attack and is "operating at a significantly reduced capacity" as a result of the ensuing software system outage. News4Jax reports OneBlood remains able to collect, test, and distribute blood in a limited fashion.

A rep for OneBlood had this to say: "We have implemented manual processes and procedures to remain operational. Manual processes take significantly longer to perform and impacts inventory availability." The nonprofit says in a statement that it has engaged cybersecurity specialists as well as federal, state, and local agencies in its response. It has not yet said whether patient data has been compromised. It added that "the national blood community is rallying to assist OneBlood," with blood centers across the country shipping blood and platelets to it. (More cyberattack stories.)