Saint Francis Healthcare System of Cape Girardeau, MO was impacted when its recently- acquired Ferguson Medical Group was attacked on Sept 21, 2019. The ransomware targeted an older computer network that Ferguson Medical Group used prior to its acquisition.Consequently, physicians were barred from accessing patients’ medical records until a ransom was paid.

However, Saint Francis declined to pay the ransom because it had adequate backup systems in place. With the help of backup files, most of the health care records were recovered without paying the ransom. However, records submitted between Sept 20, 2018 and Dec 31, 2018 could not be restored . Fortunately, no evidence was found that patient information was misused or spread widely. Frequently, ransomware attacks threaten to release or sell information to malicious characters.