At a time when the U.S. healthcare system is already overwhelmed by the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals and healthcare companies have been hit with an unprecedented number of ransomware attacks. A joint cybersecurity advisory issued on October 29, 2020 by the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services warns that it will only get worse, assessing that there is “an increased and imminent cybercrime threat to U.S. hospitals and healthcare providers.”
Ransomware has already demonstrated its capability to disrupt and devastate organizations beyond healthcare companies: large corporations, small businesses and startups, municipalities and government entities are all vulnerable. In 2020 alone, victims of the 11 biggest ransomware attacks spent over $144 million on investigations, restorations and preventative measures, in addition to actual ransom payments.