Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations
Watch Live

Cyberattack On Scripps Health

 May 4, 2021 at 4:31 AM PDT

Good Morning, I’m Annica Colbert….it’s Tuesday May 4th. >>>> A cyberattack on Scripps Health More on that next, but first... let’s do the headlines…. ######### County public health officials say three Covid-19 vaccines sites will start offering evening hours. The sites are in the oceanside, chula vista and el cajon. The sites have both pfizer and moderna vaccines and you don’t need an appointment to go. Meanwhile, the US Food and Drug administration is expected to approve the Pfizer vaccine for anyone 12 and older later this week. ########### Mayor Todd Gloria says he’s directing nearly 40 million dollars towards repairing streets in historically underserved areas like Encanto, San Ysidro and City Heights. The program will still need to get passed by the city council in their proposed budget. The 40 million came from federal stimulus money from the American Rescue Plan. ######## The fight against the Southern Fire in Shelter valley continues. According to the Cal Fire Map at the time of reporting, the fire’s burned more than 5000 acres and is at 55% containment. Alex Tardy of the national weather service says a fire of this size is unusual this early on in the year. “The dead fuel moisture right now is at a record low. So it's not just low, it's at record low. So you could argue that in Southern California we’re worse off than last year at this time.” Three structures were destroyed, and about 500 people had to evacuate. Those evacuation orders were then lifted Monday afternoon. ######### From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now. Stay with me for more of the local news you need. One of San Diego's largest healthcare providers has been hit with a cyberattack. Little is known right now.. and kpbs reporter health matt hoffman says scripps’ online systems are down. University of San Diego cybersecurity professor Mark Heckman says with the healthcare giant’s website down, and Scripps officials suspending online access.. This sounds like it could be a malware attack, designed to disrupt systems and one where hackers could be asking for a ransom. 3:15.526 Mark Heckman, cybersecurity professor University of San Diego If you want to get your data back, you have to pay the attacker to give you secret key We don't know if that’s the case, Scripps officials are being tight lipped on details of the quote “cyber attack” that was first reported over the weekend.. While today scripps facilities were open including urgent care centers, hospitals, and emergency rooms.. the attack is forcing some appointments to be rescheduled- 25:37.168 Mark Heckman, cybersecurity professor University of San Diego There’s a certain amount of embarrassment and damage to the brand when you admit you’ve suffered from a cyber attack It’s unclear if any data has been compromised.. and Heckman says if that turns out to be the case Scripps will likely notify individual patients. And that was KPBS Health reporter Matt Hoffman ########### A new law allows prosecutors to recommend resentencing for prisoners who were unjustly sentenced. KPBS’ Alexandra Rangell reports on how it’s already getting some people released in San Diego. San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan announced the D-A’s office is ramping up efforts to review prison sentences for eligible prisoners who can be released safely from prison and reintegrated back into the community. Monday morning, prosecutors petitioned the resentencing of 84-year-old James Riveria, who was sentenced to 140 years-to-life. San Diego County Superior Court Judge Jay Bloom, recalled Riveria’s sentence. Jay M. Bloom, San Diego County Superior Court “He has no history of violence that I’m aware of. I think under those circumstances I'm willing to recall the sentence at this time.” The D-A’s newly reorganized Conviction and Sentence Review Unit has about 150 prison sentences that are currently under review. And that was KPBS’ Alexandra Rangel. ########## California’s Sardines are under stress from hyper efficient commercial fishing fleets–-that’s according to a new study of the Sardine Fishery in the Gulf of California. KPBS Environment Reporter Erik Anderson has more. The gulf’s sardine fishery has collapsed four times in the past three decades and that’s putting the thriving fishery at risk. Two California researchers suggest in a new study that a better fishery management approach is needed to keep the sardines from permanently crashing. Stanford scientist Alfredo Giron says overfishing is devastating the sardine population. “And we have had four collapsed of the sardine fishery in the past couple of decades. So our study is basically proving that fishing also has an impact and if you actually account for it you can increase the value of the fishery by at least 50 percent. There are about 100-thousand local fishermen who rely on sardines for subsistence. But about 50 commercial vessels are putting too much pressure on the species. Their catch is not regulated. Erik Anderson KPBS News And that was KPBS environment reporter Erik Anderson ########## A collection of ambitious, progressive bills from California’s youngest lawmaker stalled last week. Capradio’s Scott Rodd says the proposals brought out tensions between democratic lawmakers. 25-year-old Assemblymember Alex Lee earned the backing of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in last year’s election. He wasted little time introducing bills to create a single-payer health care system, ban political contributions from corporations and levy a wealth tax on the richest Californians. But they’re all off the table--for now. LEE-1: “I’m open to changes, I’m open to feedback. But my fellow lawmakers have to have the courage to try things that make themselves uncomfortable. If we are really to rebuild a system that is very, very broken, we have to start somewhere.” Lee argues many California’s want more progressive policies. LEE-1: “I did not come to Sacramento to bet on the easy winning subjects and make incremental change. We need systemic, wholesale change.” Lee plans to reintroduce the bills with some changes next session. And that was Cap Radio’s Scott Rodd ########## Coming up.... the military is changing up bases to respond to climate change. We’ll have an American Homefront report next, just after the break. The Pentagon is trying to make some of the nation's most crucial military bases less vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The effort comes more than two years after a pair of hurricanes caused billions of dollars in damage to bases in the southeast. From Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Jay Price reports for the American Homefront Project. PRICE: In front of a single-story, brick regimental headquarters that will be torn down and replaced, four dignitaries in hard hats raise shovels of dirt to fling NAT SOUND: If we do this right, all dirt will be synchronized. …Are you ready? Lift… Three. Two. One. PRICE: Then they dumped the soil <<>> PRICE: It’s a set piece of civic life, a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of a construction project. But in this case it ALSO marks a big moment for national security. The start of construction on dozens of buildings that have to be replaced here because of damage from Hurricane Florence in 2018. The reconstruction effort is so large and important that the Navy set up an entire new Facilities Command to run it, under a senior officer, Captain Jim Brown. He's the emcee for the groundbreaking. BROWN <>: We will restore this base. We will get it back and we'll make it better than it was before. PRICE: Navy and Marine officers say Congress pushed through funding quickly, planning was accelerated and construction is starting twice as soon as typical military projects. But it will still take at least another five years to complete the work. Miguel Dieguez <>, also a Navy Captain, is Camp Lejeune’s facilities director. He spoke to a group of dignitaries before the ceremony. DIEGUEZ: Hurricane Florence, I like to say, exposed the soft underbelly of our infrastructure here, across the three Marine Corps installations in North Carolina. PRICE: The hurricane was unusual in that it not only was powerful, but it moved slowly and carried an extraordinary amount of water. Its high winds damaged the roofs of hundreds of buildings at Camp Lejeune and the New River and Cherry Point Marine Corps air stations. Then the storm sat over them for three days, dumping an all-time record of three feet of rainfall. It poured into ceilings and inside walls and flooded interiors. Again, Captain Dieguez. DIEGUEZ: The oldest and kind of most vulnerable part of our infrastructure that dates back to the 40s and 50s was really susceptible to the winds and the rain that happened. PRICE: The startling amount of damage here and billions of dollars more from another hurricane the same year, at Tyndall Air Force base in Florida, led the Pentagon to retool its construction standards to better take into account the increasing risks from climate change. Dieguez said the new structures will be built to better withstand storms. DIEGUEZ: We're just going to be first out of the chute to incorporate these changes on a large scale...I think other installations and other services come and look to see what we're doing here and mirror, not just from an infrastructure perspective, but we talk about energy security, and the upgrades we're making to utilities, infrastructure to make it more resilient. PRICE: And the main Marine headquarters for East Coast infantry units, which is on the waterfront, will be relocated to one of the highest points on the base. UDVARDY: We can't really wall off water. So it is refreshing to hear that Camp Lejeune is looking at moving some structures inland. PRICE: That’s Shana Udvardy of the Union of Concerned Scientists. She was co-author of a report in 2016 underlining the threats climate change poses to several bases, including Lejeune. Udvardy said it heartening when Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called climate change an “ existential” threat to U.S. national security, signalling a new level of seriousness in the Pentagon about climate issues. Experts have long warned that many coastal military bases are vulnerable to the sea level rise and increasingly numerous and more powerful storms triggered by climate change. A Center for Climate and Security report issued just months before the storm hit Lejeune had highlighted risks there. Among other things, it recommended significant upgrades to the base’s utilities to make them less vulnerable to storms and flooding. Dieguez said those are also among the improvements now planned. And that was Jay Price reporting from Camp Lejeune. This story was produced by the American Homefront Project, a public media collaboration that reports on American military life and veterans. Funding comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting That’s it for the podcast today. Be sure to catch KPBS Midday Edition At Noon on KPBS radio, or check out the Midday podcast. You can also watch KPBS Evening Edition at 5 O’clock on KPBS Television, and as always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. I’m Annica Colbert. Thanks for listening and have a great day.

Ways To Subscribe
There was a cyberattack on the Scripps Health online systems over the weekend. Details on the nature of the attack were not disclosed, though Scripps indicated it has notified law enforcement "and the appropriate governmental organizations." Meanwhile, a San Diego man sees himself released from prison under a new resentencing bill passed in California. And, how the military is changing their bases in response to the threat of climate change.