During the night between Monday and Tuesday, Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem went offline as the hospital simulated a cyber attack. This drill was done to ensure protocols in such a crisis were smooth and efficient.
For the drill, all computerized systems at Shaare Zedek were shut down, and all hospital departments had to function using manual registration and operation. As the hospital operated as though a cyber attack was taking place, all patient admissions, medical record registration, test referrals, along with other various tasks were performed manually. The goal of this exercise was to provide all Shaare Zedek staff with the necessary knowledge and tools to be able to save lives, and maintain balance during times of crisis.
After about two hours of practice, and with the completion of the works and maintenance, the system returned to full operation with all the computer and communication systems functioning as normal.
Prof. Ofer Merin, Shaare Zedek Director General explained the exercise, “Shaare Zedek is a large and central medical center in Jerusalem and Israel and therefore must be prepared for any scenario. After implementing a plan to formulate and draw conclusions from the cyber attack on Hillel Yaffe Hospital, we significantly upgraded our defense systems and the exercise was designed to prepare the teams for work without communication systems and hospital management in this situation. We continue to strengthen our readiness in order to continue to provide service and medical care to patients in any scenario.”
“The cyber threat is becoming central and significant for large organizations and especially in vital organizations. Practicing, examining the systems and constant learning are our duty to maintain the sequence of activity and prevent destructive attacks. The exercise yesterday brought many lessons along with the understanding that our preparation is good and we have the ability to respond to any scenario,” said Shaare Zedek Vice President of Technology, Shimi Ben Baruch
The exercise was led by Shaare Zedek Medical Center’s Emergency Department under the management of Sarah Goldberg, together with the Information Systems Division under the management of Rivka Rudansky.
