12/14/2023

Cyberattacks Yet Another Threat to Healthcare

Cyberattacks and ransomware have been an ongoing story throughout the entire year, with hospitals and healthcare systems being one of the most popular targets for hackers attempting to shut down services and access personal information in hopes of a payout.

Take, for example, an attack on patient records that happened just last week at Ardent Health Services hospitals in New Jersey, Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico: one of, if not the largest operator to be hit so far. The attack shut down a significant number of the health system’s computerized services, causing a temporary shutdown of affected hospitals’ emergency rooms and rescheduling of surgeries, all while nurses rushed to print out paper patient records.

While the first time health systems and hospitals were specifically targeted on record in this fashion was in 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) estimated recently that more than 61 million people’s medical data has been exposed just since January – and the Biden Administration has been very keen to address this.

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