Examples of significant cyberattacks on the healthcare sector, as reported by Digital Journal, include Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn and the University of Vermont Health Network, Both of these medical establishments were victims of the Ryuk ransomware attack spree. In addition, Universal Health Services, one of the largest healthcare providers in the U.S., was also hit by a ransomware attack. The attack took down many systems and left consumers and healthcare employees unable to access many of the services.
Such is the intensity of the cyberattacks that Federal agencies have issued a stark warning that cybercriminals are set to unleash a wave of data-scrambling extortion attempts against the U.S. healthcare system. Data suggests healthcare organizations have seen a 300 percent increase in cybersecurity attacks.
The focus on health does not mean that other industries should lower their guard and there are lessons to be drawn from the weaknesses in several healthcare information technology systems that have made the gateway for cyber-criminals easier.
According to Zach Renkert, Security Solutions Engineer at TBI, hackers will soon change their targets and other industries, such as finance and ecommerce, should take healthcare’s current cybersecurity struggles as a warning sign.
Renkert tells Digital Journal: “Industries across the board need to be on high-alert. Whether you are a global-enterprise or small business, security strategy starts with having an incident response plan. Independent of your security technologies or services, having a plan in place will allow your organization to coordinate and build out communication, roles and responsibilities.”
Quoting an alarming figure, Renkert states: “The average cost of downtime from an attack is $5,600 per minute according to Gartner. Business can reduce that by having an incident response plan in place that allows your company to quickly mobilize and remediate the threat.”
Can I connect you with Renkert to learn more about what other industries can learn from recent healthcare hacks?
