{"id":14915,"date":"2020-08-13T11:00:35","date_gmt":"2020-08-13T01:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberleadershipinstitute.com\/healthcare-and-the-menace-of-cyber-crime\/"},"modified":"2023-12-11T09:05:15","modified_gmt":"2023-12-11T09:05:15","slug":"healthcare-and-the-menace-of-cyber-crime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cyberleadershipinstitute.com\/healthcare-and-the-menace-of-cyber-crime\/","title":{"rendered":"Healthcare and the menace of cyber-crime"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/span><\/p>\n For several years, even during times of conflict, medical institutions have been considered sacred places – <\/span>thus immune from deliberate attacks<\/span><\/a>. The 1949 Geneva conventions obliged immunity for hospitals and medical staff, stating<\/a>, \u201cPersons regularly and solely engaged in the operation and administration of civilian hospitals, including the personnel engaged in the search for, removal and transporting of and caring for wounded and sick civilians, the infirm and maternity cases, shall be respected and protected\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The current spate of cyber-attacks shamelessly targeting hospitals and other vital medical institutions is making mockery of these long-cherished human ideals. Cyber criminals continue to commit despicable deeds, such as blocking access to critical medical records using strong encryption algorithms, forcing hospitals to cancel or postpone high-risk surgeries, threatening to destroy critical records unless victims pay ransom in the form of bitcoins. The February 2016 hack of the Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital in Los Angeles (USA) provided a chilling example. The hospital was forced to transport patients to other hospitals when cyber criminals crippled its central medical records for 10 days and demanded financial ransom.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n But not all attacks are financially motivated; some are outright cold-hearted. Back in 2008, in a horrible prank, cyber criminals hacked a forum run by the Epilepsy Foundation (USA), and then redirected visitors to sites featuring bright, flashing images known to potentially trigger seizures. Unlike other cyber-attacks, which victims can manage with moderate impacts, attacks on medical infrastructure are particularly worrying. When hospitals are hacked, patient lives are in danger.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Cyber-attacks targeting medical institutions are soaring. A 2016 report Ponemon institute revealed that nearly 90 percent of healthcare organisations surveyed incurred a breach during the previous two years, and nearly half experienced more than five data breaches in the same time period. There are five primary factors fuelling these attacks:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Faced with this potent risk, health institutions need to up their game. Failure to act will increasingly put patient lives in jeopardy. Here are some key areas healthcare organisations should consider to maximise technology benefits while minimising cyber risk. These are not comprehensive, detailed industry standards such as NIST, ISO 27001 or COBIT exist to provide more detailed guidance.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The threat is real, and demands attention from the most senior officers. Given the significance of their missions, health institutions need to honestly reflect on their cyber security capabilities and take required actions to address any gaps. This is more than just protecting high-value digital assets; it\u2019s about protecting human lives<\/span>. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For several years, even during times of conflict, medical institutions have been considered sacred places – thus immune from deliberate attacks. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":20950,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,16,18,39],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSo, why are hospitals being targeted?<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n
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How can health care institutions reduce exposure?<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n
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