Europe 1 with AFP Photo credit: JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP 15:24 pm, June 22, 2023

Since Wednesday, the University Hospital of Rennes has been the victim of a cyberattack without impact on patient care but which has led to a data leak, the extent of which remains to be determined. A crisis unit was immediately activated and a complaint was filed at the Rennes police station," says the CHU.

The University Hospital of Rennes is victim since Wednesday of a cyberattack without impact on the care of patients but which has led to a data leak, the extent of which remains to be determined, announced Thursday the Breton hospital. "Rennes University Hospital was the victim of a cyberattack. No impact on the care of our patients, "said the CHU on Twitter in the night. "The reception of emergencies and the SAMU-Centre 15 are functioning normally, all medical activities and all physical appointments are maintained," added in a statement the establishment, whose website remained inaccessible Thursday at midday.

Until further notice, appointments can only be made by phone.

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Medical activities are not stopped

"As soon as this cyberattack was reported, the CHU put in place the necessary precautionary measures by isolating its information system from the internet to limit the spread of the attack while ensuring the availability of medical applications internally (...) A crisis unit was immediately activated and a complaint was filed at the Rennes police station," says the CHU. If medical activities are not stopped, "the cyberattack has led to data exfiltration and analyses are underway to qualify the quantity and type of data concerned," says the hospital, adding that investigations are being conducted in connection with the National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (ANSSI) and CERT-Santé, which helps health institutions facing a computer security incident.

"The University Hospital of Rennes has made a declaration to the CNIL and will take the necessary measures to prevent the persons concerned by this data exfiltration," the statement added. Other French hospitals have been the target of cyberattacks in recent months, including that of Brest, which had to operate in degraded mode for several weeks in March. In December 2022, the Versailles hospital was also the target of a cyberattack by a group of hackers demanding a ransom.