New Zealand’s Fisher & Paykel Healthcare hit by cyber breach

Oct 22 (Reuters) – Medical device maker Fisher & Paykel Healthcare on Thursday said it was made aware of unauthorized and unlawful access to a subset of company files and two employee email accounts.

Here are the details:

• Some of the files accessed contained personally identifiable information and the company is in the process of informing the people affected. It said it has notified the relevant authorities

• “There is no evidence that the unlawful activity compromised the company’s system that maintains patient data,” the New Zealand company said.

• Fisher & Paykel, which makes devices to treat obstructive sleep apnea, said there has been no impact on the company’s products, manufacturing operations or supply chain

• The company said it believes the incident is contained, with no evidence of ransomware or malware identified, and that it expects no material financial impact

• The incident comes a day after government websites in Europe and elsewhere went offline, when the disclosure of critical flaws in a widely used programming language sent site operators worldwide scrambling to protect their systems

• Shares of the company fell as much as 1.5% to NZ$48.68 during the session.

(Reporting by Tejas Harish in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed and Ronojoy Mazumdar)