OneBlood returns to normal operations after crippling cyberattack

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando-based nonprofit OneBlood says it has returned to normal blood distribution operations just over a week after reporting a cyberattack by hackers.

▶ WATCH CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS

The organization provides blood to more than 250 hospitals in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Alabama.

Hackers targeted OneBlood’s software systems on July 29th, leading to a significant reduction in capacity and forcing them to resort to manual operations for collecting, testing, processing, and distributing blood to the hospitals it served.

READ: Boil water notice issued for some Brevard County residents

On Monday, OneBlood officials announced that important software systems were beginning to come back online, and on Thursday, said they’d fully returned to normal operations following the ransomware attack.

“Our operations never stopped,” OneBLood Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications and Public Relations Susan Forbes said in a statement. “Lives depend on the work that we do, and nothing will stand in our way of ensuring blood is available when and where it is needed.”

READ: Hundreds of thousands of voters have already cast their ballots in Florida

With its blood supply stabilized, OneBlood has informed the Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies Task Force that supplemental shipments of blood and platelets to OneBlood are no longer needed.

“We are grateful for the support we have received from the blood community during an unprecedented time for OneBlood,“ Forbes added. “The combined efforts from the task force, along with a tremendous response from OneBlood donors answering the call for blood and platelet donations, ensured our lifesaving mission prevailed, no matter the circumstances.”

READ: $20 million winning lotto ticket sold in Kissimmee

The group responsible for the attack has not been identified.

Meanwhile, the investigation into the hack remains active. OneBlood officials have said it’s unclear whether any personal information from donors was leaked.

Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.

©2024 Cox Media Group