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Ransomware attacks are a major headache for the healthcare industry, targeting everything from hospitals to blood banks.
A new report from Microsoft provides some numbers that highlight the cybersecurity challenges facing the industry.
The technology giant reported that “389 medical institutions were affected by ransomware” from July 2023 to June 2024. The attacks shut down networks, took systems offline, delayed medical care and rescheduled appointments, the report said.
Microsoft revealed in its report that the healthcare industry is the ninth most targeted industry, with 2% of all attacks concentrated in the healthcare industry.
Microsoft expands its customer base beyond healthcare, with 2.75x more human-operated ransomware-related encounters compared to last year, defined as targeting at least one device in the network It was reported that there was an increase in
The number of attacks that reach the “actual encryption phase,” where devices are locked and protected, has fallen by a third over the past two years, according to the report.
attack attack Still, ransomware attacks in the healthcare industry carry the highest costs.
A report released in August by IBM and the Michigan-based research firm Ponemon Institute found that cybersecurity issues in the healthcare industry are more expensive than in other industries, with an average of 15% per data breach in 2023. The cost is estimated to be $10.93 million. The next highest average cost is $6.08 million.
And while the federal government plays whack-a-mole with bad actors, it is trying to help fragile health systems protect themselves.
In May, the Department of Health and Human Services committed to investing $50 million in data protection under an initiative called Universal Patch and Remediation for Autonomous Defense (UPGRADE). The goal is to help hospitals detect and respond to potential cyberattacks more quickly, and the agency is looking to suggestions from health IT experts, medical device manufacturers, and healthcare providers to figure out how to do so. I'm looking for.
And perhaps the two most understood sentences in this report are: “Ransomware remains one of the most serious cybersecurity concerns, and for good reason.”
