Page 227 - Cyber Defense eMagazine August 2024

Healthcare becoming a Ransomware Magnet. Why?

1. Sensitive Patient Information

The foremost reason healthcare organizations are becoming a ransomware magnet for malicious actors
to exploit is the sensitive patient information. According to research by Rubrik, a typical healthcare
organization has more than 42 million sensitive records – 50% more sensitive data than the global
average of 28 million. This data is lucrative for cyber criminals and often the reason they target healthcare
organizations. Once these malicious actors get access to such data, they can use it for various gains
such as financial frauds, identity theft.

2. Legacy Software Systems

Ransomware attacks are also prevalent in healthcare due to their outdated systems. Healthcare
organizations don't update their systems often because it disrupts operations. Updates protect these
organizations by patching their security vulnerabilities. If these vulnerabilities aren’t fixed in time, they
can convert into data breaches. In fact, according to Sophos, in 29% of ransomware attacks, exploited
vulnerabilities are the root cause of the attack. Hence, making them easy entry points for hackers to
infiltrate and cause disruption. Want to secure your medical devices from such attacks? Learn more about
our medical device cybersecurity.

3. Staff Unawareness

Healthcare staff remains to be a weak link against cybersecurity attacks like ransomware for hospitals.
When it comes to ransomware attacks your staff can play a huge role in avoiding it. Credentials
compromise (32%), Email based attacks (malicious links or phishing) in over one third of cases were the
root cause of

ransomware attacks according to Sophos. All these attacks can be minimized if your healthcare staff is
more aware of the cyber-threatening landscape like phishing attacks.

The Impact of Ransomware on Healthcare Organizations

1. Financial Loss

The first point of impact that healthcare organizations face post a ransomware attack is the ransom they
must pay to recover the data or the system. In 2023, as per The Global Healthcare Cybersecurity Study
2023, 26% of healthcare organizations had to pay money as ransomware payments. Data retrieval
becomes an important aspect of healthcare as operations are impacted due to a ripple effect.

2. Data Loss

The second impact that a healthcare organization faces post a ransomware attack is the data loss. As
per a Sophos report, in the year 2023, in more than one-third of the cases (37%) after the data was
encrypted during a ransomware attack, the data was stolen as well. This “double-dip method” has also
become quite common by cyber attackers over the years. This data is then used for financial frauds and

Cyber Defense eMagazine – August 2024 Edition 227
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