Hackers had access to Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital's IT network for three weeks, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
While the cybercriminal gang's attempt to encrypt the hospital's data and hold it for ransom was prevented by internal security systems, the group was still able to steal information from an estimated 1.2 million patients, according to the July 27 story. The FBI is pursuing the hackers.
Florida has been particularly hard hit by the recent wave of cyberattacks on hospitals, with hacks affecting nearly 10,000 individuals at St. Petersburg-based Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital and 11 million at Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare, which has locations in the Sunshine State. Healthcare is so vulnerable because it is less secure than some other industries and data from hospitals is so valuable to criminals, experts told the news outlet.
"They are a good target," Joe Partlow, chief technology officer at cybersecurity firm ReliaQuest, told the Times. "[Hackers] know it's a good trove of personal data."