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GBMC Nurse: Hospital 'Crippled' By Ransomware Cyberattack

TOWSON, Md. (WJZ) -- GBMC remains in the grips of a ransomware attack on the hospital's IT system.

A GBMC nurse who spoke to WJZ on the of anonymity said the past two weeks set staff back decades.

"Everything is on paper documentation," the nurse said.

This comes after a ransomware cyberattack in early December.

"The fax machine just started printing out hundreds of pages, just saying, 'you're being attacked, you're being attacked, you're being attacked,'" the nurse said.

A hospital spokesperson released the following statement to WJZ, saying, in part:

"[We're] working night and day, in accordance with our well-planned processes and procedures, to restore systems to be fully functional once again."

Cybersecurity experts say hackers do this because they can, and oftentimes, victims pay the ransom.

"And that's why we're seeing these attacks continue," Markus Rauschecker, Cybersecurity Program Director at the University of Maryland, said.

Rauschecker said hackers are not after the data itself, but the data's value to the victim.

"The data that hospitals have is incredibly valuable," he said. "It's critical to patient care and lives could be on the line."

He said that's why hospitals have been targeted more frequently.

The nurse said GBMC has been "crippled" by this attack.

"It's the frontline staff and the patients who, unfortunately, are suffering," the nurse said. "And I can't imagine what kind of low-life you have to be to attack a hospital in a pandemic."

GBMC suggests patients contact them before any appointment or procedure to help ensure they don't have any delays.

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