Healthcare sector has become one of the most beloved targets of ransomware operators in the past year. The data released from a security firm Proofpoint also suggests that cryptovirological attackers are hitting establishments that deal in public health.
According to the report, in the third quarter of 2017, ransomware tops all the cyber threats that affected healthcare sector. However, the attacks experienced a significant drop in the last quarter of the year.
The operational in charge, who is taking care of cybersecurity of Proofpoint’s healthcare clients, says that the sector is severely affected by different cyber attacks. Phishing is being used to defraud the patients. Ransomware activities are disrupting critical medical services. Adding insult to injury, data theft of confidential patient information is an ongoing problem for the healthcare industry.
Locky: The Top Ransomware Affecting Healthcare Establishments
The firm also specifies that Locky is the most used ransomware threat against healthcare sector. This cryptovirological strain is known to encrypt many types of files and systems. Its extensive encryption activity makes it difficult for security professionals to complete ransomware removal measures in the shortest possible time frame.
Why Healthcare Sector?
Downtime is very critical for any business. However, for healthcare organizations, it can literally become a matter of life and death. Healthcare organizations can’t afford to have the disruption of services for prolonged time periods. This vulnerability of healthcare systems makes them a soft target for cryptovirological attackers.
To ensure the continuity of their services, many affected healthcare organizations yield to the demands of the instigators for ransomware removal. Even if healthcare companies commence ransomware activities immediately, they still have to suffer from significant downtime.
Read Also: HHS Warns of Continued SamSam Attacks on Healthcare Sector
In the first quarter of this year, a healthcare service provider company Allscripts became the victim of cryptovirological infiltration. In spite of their quick, professional, and effective response, they had yet to suffer from minimum six days of downtime that resulted in affecting hundreds of medical practices in several states.
It shows that only complete prevention of ransomware attacks can protect healthcare organizations to maintain their delivery of services without any interruption.
