Recently a report from New Zealand that is related to last year’s WannaCry ransomware attack surfaced in the security circles and focused on United Kingdom’s hospitals. According to ransomware removal, the report has also raised certain issues related to the security of medical devices, especially in the rapidly progressing Internet of Things (IoT) world.
In 2017, WannaCry affected the UK’s National Health Service in one of the most infamous spree of ransomware attacks in the industry. The attack proved to be a nuisance for many, as it was reported that almost 20,000 appointments of patients were canceled.
The report is released in accordance with Official Information Act of New Zealand and also sheds some light on the chinks in the armor of medical devices. Certain departments of hospitals were earmarked with the radiology department and various lab instruments were singled out as a matter of worry.
Additionally, more than 45 devices were singled out as potential risks in the case of a ransomware attack. However, these devices were not named explicitly. Though, ransomware removal experts noted that the WannaCry event led medical devices like blood test devices and MRI scanning tools to be infected.
The report’s authority District Health Board (DHB) was asked about the steps taken to deal with these issues. DHB representatives answered without going into the specifics that they are working to ensure the privacy and protection of health information data of patients stored in the hospitals’ systems.
Paul Spain of Gorilla Technology provided some insights into organizational troubles in this matter. According to Mr. Paul, organizations all over the world find it hard to stay current with computer technologies as well as the latest security measures and often it is problematic for organizations to allocate the best resources and personnel for ransomware removal to secure their IT assets.
