Life Healthcare Group said today, it’s information technology (IT) systems have been attacked by cybercriminals and that an investigation is underway to find out the extent of the breach.
The company said the security breach to its Southern African operation has affected admissions systems, business processing systems and email servers.
Pieter Van der Westhuizen, who is the acting group CEO, said the extent to which sensitive data has been compromised is yet to be determined and that external cybersecurity experts and forensic teams have been brought on board to advise and supplement their internal teams and capacity.
“First, and foremost, we wish to assure all the communities within which we operate, that this criminal attack on our systems will not affect the quality care and clinical excellence we aim to provide,” Van set Westhuizen said.
“Patient care remains our key priority. We are deeply disappointed and saddened that criminals would attack our facilities during such a time when we are all working tirelessly and collectively to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we will not be distracted and will continue to place our patients first. We regret that the disruption caused by this incident may cause our patients some frustration, in what is already a trying time.”
