The University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) said it has been responding to a ransomware attack that affected parts of its hospital network and patient services. The organisation confirmed the incident to state officials and has taken steps to contain the breach while maintaining essential medical operations.
UMMC detected unusual activity in its information technology systems and identified that ransomware was involved. The organisation said its IT teams moved quickly to isolate impacted servers and systems to prevent further spread of the malicious software. Officials also disabled some remote access functions as part of containment measures. The exact strain of ransomware and the identity of the perpetrators were not publicly disclosed at the time of reporting.
UMMC said that its emergency departments and critical patient care continued to operate during the attack, with clinical staff using alternative systems and manual processes where necessary. The health system also reported that access to some electronic health records and internal services was disrupted, but it worked to restore functionality and prioritise patient care. The organisation did not provide specific details on how long services were affected.
The medical centre notified law enforcement and relevant federal agencies about the incident. UMMC said it is cooperating with authorities and external cybersecurity experts to investigate the attack, determine its scope, and address any vulnerabilities. The health system also told patients and staff to be alert for unusual communications that could be related to the breach.
UMMC did not disclose whether any patient or employee data was accessed or exfiltrated during the incident, and it said the investigation into data impact was ongoing. The organisation said it would provide updates as more information becomes available.
Healthcare cybersecurity experts said ransomware attacks on hospital networks continue to pose risks to operations and data. They noted that such incidents often require organisations to implement temporary workarounds when systems are unavailable, and can involve significant recovery efforts to restore normal service. UMMC said it was working to strengthen its cybersecurity posture as part of its response.
No groups had claimed responsibility for the ransomware attack at the time of the report. UMMC said essential medical services such as emergency care, surgeries, and urgent treatments were continuing while IT teams worked on containment and recovery.