River Hospital shuts down system email

ALEXANDRIA BAY, N.Y. (WWNY) - One Jefferson County hospital has completely shut down its email.

River Hospital shut down access to its email as a way to prevent the possibility of ransomware attack.

It follows a recent attack against St. Lawrence Health System, which hit 3 hospitals in Potsdam, Gouverneur and Massena. Those hospitals may have caught the problem before any patient information was obtained by hackers.

River Hospital says its move is a precaution to ensure critical information stays private.

“Shutting down the email is going to close the biggest and simplest way that these very smart bad people are using to get through,” said Jim Flood, chief information officer at River Hospital.

Flood says he is unsure at this time when the email system will be active again.

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