Yet another hospital has been hit by a ransomware attack, perhaps providing an insight into where hackers are focusing their criminal minds. The hospital stated that patient records have been protected, however is this missing the point of ransomware attacks?
Money made from extortion has long been considered as 'easy pickings' since it exploits soft targets who end up paying ransoms just to be able to continue operating their businesses. This is particularly true for hospitals, who cannot afford to having to resort to manual processes. Not only might this lead to unwanted patient harm, it may also imply that hospitals might be sued by patients and their loved ones.
A hospital in Canada is the latest victim in a rash of cyber-attacks on hospitals. The Ottawa Hospital in Canada's southeastern region of Ontario was hit with ransomware on several of its computers recently. The hospital released a statement, saying that no patient data was accessed and that “we are confident we have appropriate safeguards in place to protect patient information and [we] continue to look for ways to increase security”.
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