The Protenus Barometershowed that in 2018, there were leaks of personal medical data from hacking attacks on 15 million patient records. What makes this even more worrying is that the number of attacks is three times higher than in 2017.
In fact, hacking has become a lucrative profession, with good working hours, higher pay, and fewer risks or consequences than other illegal activities. It only takes one vulnerability in a device to shut down an entire network , or in this case, a hospital, until the ransom is paid.
In Minnesota, United States, hackers inspect the status of its systems countless times a day. As a result, it has a multitude of insurance companies, medical device manufacturers, and provider networks that face cybersecurity.
Attacks concerning the healthcare sector are mainly attacks targeting devices. For example, attacks on implanted heart devices are possible. There, a hacker can, if he decides to, tamper with the device by draining its battery. Accordingly, drug infusion systems and insulin pumps can be targeted. There is therefore no doubt about the risk of such a hacking attack .
Healthcare organizations are high-value targets for hackers because of the vast amount of personal information they store. Recently, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and health insurance company Anthem reached a $16 million settlement after a phishing compromised 78.8 million records.
Another way to deceive is through e-mail. Such hacking attacks have increased significantly in the last two years and usually mislead the recipient by putting something in the subject line of the message that will attract attention. Such as, for example, "Payment" or "Urgent".
Ransomware attacks are also common . In 2017, a ransomware attack called WannaCry exploited existing vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows operating systems. In ransomware attacks, malware locks computers and demands a ransom to unlock the system. Vulnerable targets can include MRI machines, but also any device connected to the internet .
Two years after the WannaCry, 40% of healthcare organizations have fallen victim to such ransomware. Studies have shown that the vast majority of healthcare organizations worldwide use older Windows, which makes them more vulnerable to hacking attacks.
