How Ransomware Jeopardizes Healthcare Organizations

Security challenges in the healthcare sector continue to grow as connected assets and attack surfaces expand. Organizations in any sector face financial ramifications in the aftermath of a successful attack, but in healthcare the stakes are higher because patient outcomes are at stake. One of such threats that has been growing across worldwide for the healthcare sector is ‘ransomware’. 41% healthcare organizations globally are concerned with this cyber threat as per ‘The Global Healthcare Cybersecurity Study 2023’. And we can clearly see the reason why. The disruption caused by ransomware attacks on the continuity of care is huge leaving healthcare organizations in a state of chaos. In this blog, we will explore the reasons why healthcare is becoming a target, what impact these attacks have and how healthcare organizations can stay proactive against such threats. Let’s dive in.

Healthcare becoming a Ransomware Magnet. Why?

Sensitive Patient Information

The foremost reason healthcare organizations are becoming a ransomware magnet for malicious actors to exploit is the sensitive patient information. According to research by Rubrik, a typical healthcare organization has more than 42 million sensitive records – 50% more sensitive data than the global average of 28 million. This data is lucrative for cyber criminals and often the reason they target healthcare organizations. Once these malicious actors get access to such data, they can use it for various gains such as financial frauds, identity theft.

Legacy Software Systems

Ransomware attacks are also prevalent in healthcare due to their outdated systems. Healthcare organizations don’t update their systems often because it disrupts operations. Updates protect these organizations by patching their security vulnerabilities. If these vulnerabilities aren’t fixed in time, they can convert into data breaches. In fact, according to Sophos, in 29% of ransomware attacks, exploited vulnerabilities are the root cause of the attack. Hence, making them easy entry points for hackers to infiltrate and cause disruption. Want to secure your medical devices from such attacks? Learn more about our medical device cybersecurity.

Staff Unawareness

Healthcare staff remains to be a weak link against cybersecurity attacks like ransomware for hospitals. When it comes to ransomware attacks your staff can play a huge role in avoiding it. Credentials compromise (32%), Email based attacks (malicious links or phishing) in over one third of cases were the root cause of

ransomware attacks according to Sophos. All these attacks can be minimized if your healthcare staff is more aware of the cyber-threatening landscape like phishing attacks.

The Impact of Ransomware on Healthcare Organizations

Financial Loss

The first point of impact that healthcare organizations face post a ransomware attack is the ransom they must pay to recover the data or the system. In 2023, as per The Global Healthcare Cybersecurity Study 2023, 26% of healthcare organizations had to pay money as ransomware payments. Data retrieval becomes an important aspect of healthcare as operations are impacted due to a ripple effect.

Data Loss

The second impact that a healthcare organization faces post a ransomware attack is the data loss. As per a Sophos report, in the year 2023, in more than one-third of the cases (37%) after the data was encrypted during a ransomware attack, the data was stolen as well. This “double-dip method” has also become quite common by cyber attackers over the years. This data is then used for financial frauds and identity theft. Did you know According to Forbes, that a healthcare record can be worth as much as $1000 on the dark web? You can make your data secure from such attacks with PeoplActive’s healthcare cybersecurity consulting.

Operational Downtime

Another area which is impacted by ransomware attacks is operations. When a ransomware attack hits a healthcare organization critical information is impacted like patient diagnosis and treatment history which is critical for carrying out the operations. When such information cannot be accessed, the healthcare institution must postpone appointments and care deliveries. Furthermore, healthcare organizations without regular backups as a security measure must pay recovery costs to overcome this bottleneck. 40% of healthcare organizations had to bear this cost in 2023 as per the ‘The Global Healthcare Cybersecurity Study 2023’

Reputational Damage

Benjamin Franklin has quoted, “It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation and only one bad to lose it.” A ransomware attack is the result of that one bad deed. Hospitals and healthcare institutions must bear with the attack’s aftermath where the patient’s trust is lost. Ultimately affecting the hospital’s reputation and the bottom line. To recover from the reputational damage the hospitals must bear the recovery costs. Infact, 35% of healthcare organizations had to bear reputational costs in the year 2023 after a cyber incident.

How can you stay proactive?

Staying proactive against ransomware requires healthcare organizations to take a multi-faceted approach towards cybersecurity. Here are some things businesses can do:

Continuous Threat Monitoring and Detection

One of the measures against ransomware attacks is implementing continuous threat monitoring and detection tools before they can inflict significant harm to your business. Insights from regular monitoring can help hospitals detect unusual patterns or abnormalities in the systems and eliminate them before they grow. One of the tools you can deploy is Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems.

The tool collects, correlates, and analyzes data on security from various sources, such as servers, applications, and network devices. SIEM solutions enable proactive threat detection, incident response, and regulatory compliance by centralizing security event logs and applying advanced analytics. These threat monitoring and detection measures can be carried out in-house or managed by a cybersecurity consulting services provider to reduce the risk.

Rock-solid Incident Response Plan

In most of the ransomware cases, the healthcare organizations are baffled as to how to process the attack. Healthcare organizations should have a rock-solid incident response plan to mitigate such threats. These response plans establish clear procedures such as initial assessments to understand the scope and how to remove malware should be there. Furthermore, assigning responsibilities to the respective team members and a post-incident analysis to improve their security. One can also get advice from a healthcare cybersecurity consulting to gain a better understanding.

Regular Backups

Backups are your #1 ally in such cases. A well-defined backup procedure which backups critical data at regular intervals and continuously ensures that your data and systems are intact. Automated backups without manual intervention ensure that your data is secured. Furthermore, these backups must be stored in secure, offsite locations which remain resilient to local system failures and attacks. Taking things a step further would be regular testing of such backups and recovery systems.

Employee Training

Creating a culture of cybersecurity is not easy unless your employees are involved in it. Providing your staff members with the knowledge against cyber threats and how to mitigate them reduces the likelihood of human error in such cases. If your employee knows someone is trying to gain sensitive information out of them, they would be the first to report it to the authorities. Furthermore, creating secure policies also strengthens the adherence part to the training. But how do you train them? You can consult a healthcare cybersecurity consulting service provider as they are experts when it comes to cybersecurity.

Final Thoughts:

While it is easy to get overwhelmed looking at the growing threat landscape of cyber-attacks in healthcare. But, by learning from past cyber incidents, healthcare providers, cybersecurity experts and policy makers can create robust defenses against cyber-attacks. Remember your toughest case isn’t on the operating table, but in your inbox trying to ruin your business. It’s time to take a proactive stance against it. At PeoplActive, we help you solve such cyber problems with our healthcare cybersecurity consulting. Having extensive experience in healthcare, we know your vulnerabilities better than you do. The time to act is now. By taking a collaborative approach, you can safeguard your business from such emerging threats.

About the Author

How Ransomware Jeopardizes Healthcare Organizations Kartik Donga is one of the thought-leaders in the technology space. With over 2 decades of experience in delivering impeccable technology solutions to businesses, he has transformed both digital and cybersecurity sectors. Healthcare cybersecurity being one of the areas he is passionate about, he loves to contribute every now an then regarding topics that involve cybersecurity strategies, tools and ever-evolving threat landscape. He loves staying up-to-date with the industry news that involve anything around cyber threats and enabling businesses develop resilience against cyber threats.