An animal hospital in York had all of its clients’ information wiped out from a ransomware attack earlier this week, the owner said.
When owner Bill Walak went to work at York Animal Hospital on Tuesday, he noticed the computers were locked up. He didn’t think anything of it, until he found a ransom note on the network computer, saying he needed to download a web browser to find out what he needed to pay.
Hackers wanted the facility to pay $80,000 from the animal hospital in exchange for the documents, Walak said.
He said the hackers erased the entire server and backup data, leaving the hospital with a few paper records and saved email files.
He called the police once he realized the severity of the situation, who brought in tech experts.
“We were completely helpless,” Walak said. “We had zero phone numbers, we had fully booked schedules for weeks, and we weren’t able to contact any clients. We didn’t know who was coming in. We were completely at a standstill.”
He said he didn’t pay the ransom and sent a note to his clients, letting them know what happened. They’ve been very supportive so far, he said.
To help them rebuild the files, Walak asked his clients to email the clinic with their name, their pets’ names and any previous medical history.
He said all his clients’ payment information was on a separate system, and the information that was affected was just medical records.