'This is not the first time' Cybersecurity expert on what could be Ascensions latest cyberattack

MEQUON (CBS58) -- On Wednesday, Ascension hospital fell victim to yet another cyber-attack.

"This is not the first time its happened and it's hard to blame Ascension because they are a victim here but there is a pattern," said Alex Holden, Chief Information Security Officer at Hold Security LLC. 

Around this time last year, Ascension had a data breach to its website where names, addresses and even social security numbers were affected. Cybersecurity expert Alex Holden has an idea of what this attack could be.

"Given that this is a prolonged attack and Asension was forced to shut down some of its services it does look like it's a ransomware attack rather than a based data theft," Holden explained.

Holden says ransomware attacks are not unusual among hospitals.

"Ascension is a large hospital system and the bad guys already really had quite a bit of success getting ransom payments from large medical systems. Change Healthcare for example, paid 22 million dollars recently in ransom and that attracts bad guys," said Holden.

Those bad guys are going after whatever they can get their hands on.

"It's really smash and grab anything they are able to take out that they feel is worth money they will take, it's not only the quality of information but also the quantity. In some cases, it's not easy to defend because if our information is stolen it's not something you can change - I can't change my social security number," Holden explained.

If you are a patient with Ascension, Holden said do not worry just yet.

"Right now, it's too early to panic because we don't know the extent and who is affected," said Holden.

This is an ongoing issue and the reason behind the hack is still unknown. According to Ascension if any sensitive information is compromised, those patients will be notified.

Ascension says their teams are trained for these kinds of disruptions and are continuing to ensure patient care continues.

Officials have brought a cybersecurity firm into the investigation and have notified authorities.

Ascension also released a statement Thursday, saying:

"Should we determine that any sensitive information was affected, we will notify and support those individuals in accordance with all relevant regulatory and legal guidelines."