US Senator: 'Grave Concerns' Over Cyberattack On Montco Company

KING OF PRUSSIA, PA — Officials expressed "grave concerns" over the recent cybersecurity attack against a major healthcare network based in Montgomery County, noting that although it does not appear any patient information was compromised, it still exposes a disconcerting level of vulnerability.

United Health Services, a Fortune 500 company with global headquarters in King of Prussia, owns more than 400 hospitals and healthcare facilities worldwide. Its systems were plunged into chaos on Sunday, Sept. 27 following the attack, when all online user access was suspended and hospital employees had to revert to pen and paper to conduct business.

>>Cyberattack Cripples Major Montco-Based Healthcare System

"An incident such as this sharply highlights the need to ensure adequate cybersecurity hygiene in a healthcare setting," U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Virginia) wrote in a letter to United Health Services. "The national health crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbates the consequences of insufficient cybersecurity."

Beyond just exposing patient data, such cyberattacks stress healthcare networks already operating under historic pressure. There are concerns quality of care is impacted.

Warner's letter indicates that the continued expansion of United Health Services and the consolidation of its competitors means that even more patient data is housed under a single roof. Financial success and expansion should mean more resources dedicated to preventing such attacks, he says.

"Effective clinical environment cybersecurity cannot be a casualty to value-based care cost savings and economies of scale," he writes. "Indeed, hospital systems have frequently suggested to competition authorities that greater consolidation will allow for greater operational efficiencies; yet this does not appear to be the case when it pertains to something as vital as information security."

The letter demands answers to a number of questions pertaining to United Health's security processes and risk assessment.

Various analysts and reports noted that the September attack was one of the largest in scale in history.

United Health has not responded publicly to Warner's letter.

In southeastern Pennsylvania, some Universal Health Systems-owned properties include the KeyStone Center in Brookhaven, the Fairmount Behavioral Health System and Friends Hospital in Philadelphia, Brooke Glen Behavioral Hospital in Fort Washington, the Horsham Clinic, and Foundations Behavioral Health in Doylestown.

More than 90,000 people are employed by Universal Health Services, and they serve an estimated 3.5 million patients per year, according to their website.

Their international headquarters are on 367 S. Gulph Road in King of Prussia.

Warner's full letter can be read online here.