CHICO — Enloe Medical Center in Chico was attacked in a ransomware incident the evening of Jan. 2, according to a press release from the hospital. Unfortunately, the incident is still being investigated and there has not yet been an update made by the hospital.

However, officials at the hospital are assuring former, present and future patients that there is no evidence that patient information has been accessed or compromised.

Enloe officials in the IT department said they notified local law enforcement and the FBI the day of the incident, as industry protocol recommends.

The cyber attack affected the hospital and clinic’s phone systems, as well as the hospital’s private network, said Jolene Francis, Enloe’s director of advancement and communications. The hospital has been running on back-up, offline protocol since the ransomware attack, a procedure regularly practiced, Francis said.

“A big misconception is when something happens like this, it’s not something we can give an update on daily,” said Enloe’s marketing and communications manager, Joe Page.

Page said there have been no issues or delays in patients receiving the care at the hospital since the incident.

A ransomware attack is a type of computer virus, also known as malware, that threatens to publish private data or block access to it unless a ransom is paid. Officials at Enloe did not comment on what the hackers requested to return the information that was taken, nor what that information was.