Abbott has been struck by a cyberattack that targeted the medtech giant’s cancer diagnostics and LabCentral businesses.
Abbott revealed the first attack on July 16 when it said in a statement that its cancer diagnostics business was hit by a “cyber incident in which there was unauthorized access to a limited number of internal systems.”
The company added that it would be taking action to investigate the information that was accessed and to resolve the issue with the help of both law enforcement and third-party cybersecurity experts.
Abbott said that the cancer diagnostics attack “does not impact any business operations, product or product availability, manufacturing or lab operations, or our ability to serve patients.”
This unit includes Exact Sciences, which Abbott spent $21 billion on snapping up this year. The legacy Exact Sciences systems are separate from Abbott's, according to the statement.
The company also asserts that no material impact on its business or finances is anticipated and emphasizes that it will continue close monitoring of its systems moving forward.
But Abbott also said that as part of this attack it found one connected to its third-party facing LabCentral portal that contains publicly available information.
According to Reuters, a hacker had allegedly gained access to the LabCentral portal, but Abbott said here too there had been no impact to its customers or its business.
This is the latest in a series of other cyberattacks on patient data systems that have occurred throughout the year.
The most recent of these attacks targeted medical device company iRhythm, when an individual obtained patient protected health information and other personal information through the company’s systems in June. The company was threatened with demands for payment from the perpetrator, who claimed the information would otherwise be disclosed to the public.
Other companies have faced problems after similar incidents, such as the global medtech company Stryker, which experienced financial setbacks after a cyberattack this past March, including higher manufacturing and supply chain costs, as well as a drop in adjusted earnings per share.