Cybersecurity agencies from around the world issued a joint security advisory warning on the significant cybersecurity risks that critical infrastructure sectors—including healthcare—are facing.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the National Security Agency (NSA) have observed high-impact ransomware attacks against 14 of the 16 critical infrastructure sectors in 2021, including government facilities, financial services, transportation systems, water and wastewater systems, energy, and healthcare and public health.

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC-UK) says ransomware is now the biggest cyber threat faced by the country, with education the most targeted sector. There has also been an increase in attacks on businesses, charities, law firms, local government public services, and the healthcare sector. The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) says ransomware gangs are targeting critical infrastructure sectors including healthcare and medical, financial services and markets, higher education and research, and energy

In the cybersecurity advisory, the CISA, the FBI, and the NSA share information about ransomware trends observed in 2021 ransomware attacks and the tactics, techniques, and procedures known to be used by ransomware gangs to gain access to networks, move laterally, and increase the impact of their attacks and suggest mitigations that can reduce the likelihood of a ransomware attack succeeding and the impact of a successful attack.

Read the full article at the HIPAA Journal.