IT security company Sophos reveals that more than one-third of healthcare organizations fell victim to a ransomware attack in 2020. Even worse, nearly two-thirds of these organizations said cybercriminals successfully encrypted their data, according to Sophos.
Sophos commissioned independent research company Vanson Bourne to survey 5,400 IT decision-makers across a range of industries worldwide, including more than 300 small and mid-size organizations from healthcare, early this year. The report found ransomware was relatively prevalent in the healthcare sector, with 34% of organizations hit by such an attack in the past year. Of those not hit, 41% said they expected an attack in the future, while just 24% said they felt safe from future attacks.
Healthcare actually fared relatively well compared to other sectors. The global average for organizations attacked was 37%, with the retail and education industries experiencing the highest number of ransomware attacks at 44%.
“With healthcare often making headlines for ransomware attacks, it’s perhaps a welcome surprise that this sector experiences below average numbers of attacks,” the report said. “Their over-representation in the news reports is likely due to healthcare organizations’ obligations to make public an attack, where many commercial organizations are able to keep the bad news private.”
Read the full article on MedTechDrive.
