73.7% of Healthcare Companies Agree to Pay Ransomware Demands
According to a recent report, healthcare organizations are the fourth most targeted sector by ransomware attacks worldwide, accounting for 13% of all attacks. The report also revealed that these organizations have a high probability of paying ransom demands, with a likelihood of 73.7%.
As ransomware attacks become more common, organizations are taking steps to mitigate the damage, if it has been experienced, according to Arete, a global Internet risk management firm.
Some of the most powerful controls include backups, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and endpoint detection and response (EDR), all of which can play a role in keeping your organization secure.
“Healthcare organizations are often targeted by ransomware because sensitive information, including PII and PHI, can increase the likelihood of ransom payments,” said Chris Martinson, Chief Information Officer at Arete.
“In today’s digital world, it is critical that healthcare organizations build cybersecurity teams in-house or partner with a third-party security partner to implement effective mitigation tactics and controls,” he added.
Less than one in four healthcare organizations have an MFA, while just over half report regular backups.
Additionally, according to the report, an EDR platform alone is one of the most effective ways to reduce the likelihood of payments in the healthcare industry.
Data encryption is the best technique used to affect 100% of ransomware cases affecting the healthcare industry. The next most popular method was “prevent system restore”.
According to the report, to reduce data mining risks, user training and data backup are two key controls.
