Emory Healthcare says radiation therapy service suffers data breach

A data breach targeting radiation therapy is causing cancer patients and others in metro Atlanta who receive the therapy to travel to another hospital.

Emory Healthcare said software company Elekta informed had reported a data breach "that it is investigating a data-security incident impacting its cloud-based software." Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital is the only Emory location to use the software "which provides software for linear accelerators used in radiation therapy."

Patients are being rescheduled to other Emory locations.

In a statement sent to FOX 5, Emory Healthcare officials wrote in part:

"We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. Emory Healthcare takes this event very seriously and we continue to work with Elekta to provide secure, quality patient care."

A federal report released last October suggests ransomware attacks against healthcare and public health sectors are on the increase.

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