Healthcare organizations are once again under attack by ransomware syndicates: Medical facilities in at least three states were hit in the past week, spurring a warning by US cyber-response organizations and underscoring the success of cybercriminals in attacking critical infrastructure for profit with impunity.
Yet, while those attacks make the headlines, they represent only a small share of the successes. Healthcare is not even in the top 10 of the most attacked industries, according to a May survey conducted by cybersecurity firm Sophos. Instead, entertainment, IT, and energy are the top 3 targets, with at least 55% of companies in those industries suffering a ransomware attack in the last year and almost three-quarters of all attacks successfully encrypting data.
The continued success of ransomware highlights the heightened stakes for businesses — and, because healthcare, local government, and other critical infrastructures are targeted, the general public — in combatting…
