{"id":52572,"date":"2016-09-23T05:46:52","date_gmt":"2016-09-23T12:46:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.mcafee.com\/?p=52572"},"modified":"2025-06-04T02:09:34","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T09:09:34","slug":"ransomware-coming-to-a-hospital-near-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/other-blogs\/mcafee-labs\/ransomware-coming-to-a-hospital-near-you\/","title":{"rendered":"McAfee Labs Examines Whether Ransomware Is Coming to a Hospital Near You"},"content":{"rendered":"

Delivering uninterrupted services with immediate access to information is not an easy task. Doing it with legacy systems, a fragmented workforce, and inconsistent security is a monumental job. Unfortunately, this is the state of many hospitals, leading the criminal underground to their back doors.<\/p>\n

Ransomware attackers have shifted focus, moving from consumers to organizations with weak security but a strong reliance on their information systems. Victims appear to be paying. One ransomware developer posted a screenshot of his digital wallet that showed a balance of US$94 million, earned in about six months.<\/p>\n

Hospitals have become a prime target because they usually operate legacy systems and medical devices with weak security and they have a life or death need for immediate access to information.<\/p>\n

According to a recent study by the Ponemon Institute,<\/a> half of all healthcare data breaches in the last year were the result of criminal attacks, as opposed to errors or omissions by employees. At the same time, the primary security worry of these organizations is employee negligence. So it comes as no surprise that phishing and other human-weakness exploits are the primary attack vector.<\/p>\n

Ransomware attacks often affect medical devices, which are more challenging to protect and clean up than servers and workstations. Recovering from these attacks not only includes the ransom payment but also the costs of downtime and system recovery. Some hospitals have experienced partial or complete network downtime of five to 10 days. The Foundstone Incident Response<\/a> team identified at least 19 hospital ransomware attacks during the first half of 2016, across six countries. Most of the hospitals that paid the ransom had no contingency plans for this type of event.<\/p>\n

Top 10 List For Protecting Healthcare Systems<\/h2>\n

What can you do to protect your hospital? Our Top 10 list for protecting healthcare systems from ransomware and other malware infection:<\/p>\n