Healthcare firms face a significant rise in cyber-attacks with 94 percent of organisations revealing that they were hit by ransomware in the past year, according to the latest survey by Sophos.
The cybersecurity firm’s ‘The State of Ransomware in Healthcare 2022’ report revealed that in 2021, 66 percent of healthcare organisations were hit; 34 percent were hit the previous year.
The survey found that healthcare firms had the second-highest average ransomware recovery costs with $1.85 million, taking one week on average to recover from an attack.
Sophos also uncovered that while healthcare organisations pay the ransom most often (61 percent), they’re paying the lowest average ransoms, $197,000, compared with the global average of $812,000 (across all sectors in the survey). Alarmingly, only two percent of organisations that paid the ransom got all their data back.
The silver lining, however, is that healthcare organisations are getting better at dealing with the aftermath of ransomware attacks, according to the survey data. The report shows that 99 percent of those healthcare organisations hit by ransomware got at least some their data back after cybercriminals encrypted it during the attacks.
“Ransomware in the healthcare space is more nuanced than other industries in terms of both protection and recovery. The data that healthcare organisations harness is extremely sensitive and valuable, which makes it very attractive to attackers,” said John Shier, senior security expert at Sophos.
“In addition, the need for efficient and widespread access to this type of data – so that healthcare professionals can provide proper care – means that typical two-factor authentication and zero trust defence tactics aren’t always feasible. This leaves healthcare organisations particularly vulnerable, and when hit, they may opt to pay a ransom to keep pertinent, often lifesaving, patient data accessible. Due to these unique factors, healthcare organisations need to expand their anti-ransomware defences by combining security technology with human-led threat hunting to defend against today’s advanced cyber-attackers.”
More healthcare organisations (78 percent) are now opting for cyber insurance, but 93 percent of healthcare organisations with insurance coverage report finding it more difficult to get policy coverage in the last year. With ransomware being the single largest driver of insurance claims, 51 percent reported the level of cybersecurity needed to qualify is higher, putting a strain on healthcare organisations with lower budgets and less technical resources available.
