Ransomware Attacks in Healthcare Organizations
We recently released a new blog post and infographic, highlighting several of the recent ransomware attacks in healthcare organizations. One notable threat to healthcare organizations has been ransomware, which threatens to encrypt healthcare files with the intention of stealing sensitive patient information.
Today is the first day of the 2nd quarter of the year and it is time to look at the recent ransomware attacks that have hit healthcare organizations. Here at Trend Micro, we will be analyzing the recent events and using data to help protect healthcare organizations.
This data represents an analysis by Cyber Risk Intelligence, our advanced analytics platform used by more than 100,000 health IT professionals and organizations every year. This data and analysis is for educational purposes only and should not be used for any commercial or financial gain.
A recent ransomware attack, which infected numerous healthcare organizations, threatens to steal sensitive patient information.
Below you can read the full analysis.
The ransomware attacks began in May 2017. It has been estimated that one in eight healthcare organizations have experienced a ransomware attack.
Ransomware is a virus installed on a computer that is used to encrypt important files or folders with the intention of taking them for ransom. Once this data is encrypted, it can be difficult for the attacker to unlock the data since the files can only be read if the files are decrypted. The attacker may then use it as a part of a further attack.
It is not known where the attacks originated from though. They began in May 2017, with attacks in most of the North American countries including Afghanistan, and Iran. In some cases, ransomware attacks were found to originate in Russia.
Ransomware attacks come in a variety of forms and may involve some form of malware. For example, a ransomware attack may involve an “Ransomware-as-a-Service”. In this scenario, the malware is hosted on a remote server, and the attacker pays the ransom and gets the file back. Other ransomware attacks may be an “Ransomware-as-a-Service” that does not require payment of a ransom and is hosted on the cloud.
These attacks have affected more than 40 organizations in the healthcare sector.
How Successfully Can Cybercriminals Encrypt Their Data?
How successfully can security and cybercriminals encrypt their data? Are there any effective ways to do this? In this blog, I will share our experience of using a very effective encryption tool called FileVault 2 to protect our data when performing a variety of cybersecurity tasks and to protect our information from being stolen.
The reason we were so pleased with the results and how FileVault has proven to be an invaluable tool is that it’s an easy-to-use tool that is also incredibly flexible, scalable and scalable-to-add-new-data security measures. That’s why we have been using FileVault for quite some time now to protect and restore our files.
FileVault is a very easy to use tool that helps encrypt and decrypt data in minutes. The only downside is that it’s very easy to be defeated. However, you do have to pay attention and be aware of some weaknesses in your system.
If you’re on a laptop, you can encrypt your data with FileVault 2 and then take it with you to a friend’s home or a server in a second computer that has FileVault 2 installed. FileVault 2 encrypts your data on the same device that you took it with and you just transfer the data on to a different computer. However, this is a risky way to store encryption keys on several devices at home and also in your workplace. Also, FileVault 2 isn’t scalable and the size of files that you can protect with it is limited.
If you don’t have a friend with you that has FileVault 2 installed in his/her computer, you can still encrypt your data with FileVault 2 on your work computer that you use for a lot of work. However, it’s not an ideal way to store encryption keys for the office or if you’re going to be traveling abroad.
I have been using FileVault 2 for more than 2 months now and it’s paid off so well.
Ransomware in the Healthcare sector
It is a fact that the healthcare sector plays a very important role in the economy. However, the current status of the sector is getting affected with malware and attacks. The infection rates of ransomware in the healthcare sector is much higher than the other sectors. Here are some of the recent examples of this type of malware that affected many hospitals, pharmacies and other organizations.
In recent years hospitals and healthcare organizations have gained a lot of attention from the cybercriminals due to the rise of malware attacks and ransomware. As per IT security company Kaspersky, the number of healthcare organizations that have been attacked with the ransomware in 2018 was more than 3,400. According to Microsoft, between April 11 and April 19, 2018, the number of malicious apps has increased by 10,000 in the first few months of the year.
One factor that is behind the increase in malware attacks is the fact that hospitals and healthcare organizations are required by various security regulations to do various security, anti-virus and anti-malware checks on their computer systems.
This has resulted in the attackers trying to generate more revenue by stealing money, by using the ransomeware to extort money from the victim, by infecting the computer with a trojan horse or the use of fake antivirus programs that are made for hospitals and healthcare organizations.
Ransomware is a virus designed to hold on to important data and other assets for a longer period of time. It infects the computer system of the target computer, causing it to freeze or lock up until the victim pays the ransom in exchange for the key.
Malware has become increasingly prevalent and many organizations are affected by this type of threats as the ransomware is downloaded and spread via phishing emails. In any case, ransomware is an executable file that makes the victim’s computer system unable to perform certain basic functions. For example, with the ransomware the computer is unable to access the Internet, use the camera, open the camera or listen to the radio.
However, with the ransomware, the attacker gets the money by exploiting vulnerabilities in the computer system and then asking the victim to pay the ransom.
The Rise and Fall of Ransomware Attacks in the Healthcare Sector
Tips of the Day in Antivirus & Malware
Department of Justice charged 22 individuals on May 24 with conspiring to commit offenses including engaging in computer hacking, wire fraud and theft of trade secrets. The individuals’ names and companies were not disclosed.
Three individuals were taken into custody on the same day, the Department of Justice said: Robert Bowers, 50, and J. Schindler, 49, of Arlington, Va. ; Daniel Morgan, 33, of Chicago; and Adrian Lamo, 37, of San Jose. The three were charged with conspiracy to commit offenses including engaging in computer hacking, wire fraud and theft of trade secrets. They were arrested last September for allegedly conspiring to steal trade secrets for medical equipment and other services.
The FBI arrested a man in Wisconsin and seized three electronic devices from his home in Rock County, Mich. , on May 24. An affidavit identified the suspect as Robert Shoup, 65, of Rockton, who was arrested on an unrelated warrant. The FBI also seized electronics from Shoup’s home at the same time, the affidavit stated.
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Spread the loveWe recently released a new blog post and infographic, highlighting several of the recent ransomware attacks in healthcare organizations. One notable threat to healthcare organizations has been ransomware, which threatens to encrypt healthcare files with the intention of stealing sensitive patient information. Today is the first day of the 2nd quarter of the…