Ransomware attacks on the worldwide healthcare industry
King Henderson
PS 101
Dr. Jenkins
March 10, 2022
The Problem of Ransomware
Ransomware made its debut in 1989, infecting AIDS researcher’s hardware with a “Trojan Horse” like approach. Since then, Ransomware activity has only increased, and become more advanced. In recent years, this problem has become so direly serious that it has been declared a worldwide healthcare emergency. In 2017, nearly 5 years ago, Ransomware created by the hermit kingdom of North Korea hit hospitals in 150 nations, infecting not only databases but also servers, and even PC’s including confidential medical records. In the United Kingdom alone, 81 out of their 263 National Hospitals were shut down as a result. In turn, this ended up causing more than 19,000 appointment cancellations and thousands more patient transfers. But this example is only one of many.
The United States alone accounts for almost 50% of all worldwide Ransomware attacks. In 2021, there were 2,845 Ransomware attacks across the world and 1,352 in the U.S. amounting to countless amounts of funds being stolen, across multiple business platforms. This is the largest amount of Ransomware attacks in a year to date, and there is no sign of it slowing down. Ransomwares most notable escalation occurred in 2020. It is reported that during this year, over 20 billion dollars was extorted from healthcare institutions around the U.S., this should resonate as an absurdly large number to anyone. This poses a huge issue for not only the U.S. but the world, it embarrassingly points out the inefficiency of resistance; simply because in most cases, it is futile.
Over the last decade, Hackers and Hobbyists alike have been preying on healthcare systems seemingly without end. Posing a constant threat to multiple, if not potentially all the Health Care systems around the globe. So then, the question is asked, what can be done to put an end to it? At first thought, to some, it may seem like an easy fix. Just pinpoint the source and work from there. But that’s exactly the problem. Most of the Hackers controlling or coordinating these cyber-attacks can’t be touched, not allowing you to move past step one. This is because the countries these so-called Hackers live in, are shielded by their own governments. This means that these foreign governments are essentially encouraging terrorism abroad, simply because it’s in the “nation's best interests”. So, this creates a political conundrum, so to speak.
These crime syndicates mainly operate out of Russia and North Korea, which is bad for us because these countries openly harbor criminals, refusing to extradite them. If the U.S. decided to take action into their own hands, this would no doubt raise alarm. Therefore, causing escalation beyond a comfortable point, putting the U.S. gov. in a very awkward position. This makes going on the offensive extremely challenging, exacerbating an already unstable situation. Maybe, the correct mindset isn’t an offensive one but instead defensive. Ransomware defensive software is a relatively new kind of software, still in its early stages. This makes sense because there really wasn’t a big need for it up until the last decade. But, because this new software’s well, new it hasn’t quite reached the height of its counterpart’s capabilities. In other words, Ransomware capabilities are still in front of the new developing Ransomware cyber security measures.
The most dangerous and frightening thing about Ransomware is that it is far more sophisticated than it was in the past. Because of this, many unsuspecting companies/victims’ databases and servers were grossly unprepared for what was to come. It is stated that there has been a 67% increase in security breaches over the last 5 years, the majority being in healthcare. But even though the currently acting cyber defensive measures are inadequate, this shouldn’t continue to be the case in the future. This large rise in breaches also raises alarm among the general populace, encouraging people/businesses to install defense measures to combat attacks and hopefully avoid them altogether. Still the current threat remains, it will most likely take years to engineer and employ a system that combats Ransomware. That’s just currently the hard truth because it is vastly more sophisticated and superior. Ideally, in the next few years technology will become more openly available to combat Ransomware, posing it as less of a threat. In conclusion, the current situation is dire, but patience is a virtue. In due time, the playing field will be leveled.
Works Cited
· Riggi, John. “Ransomware Attacks on Hospitals Have Changed: Cybersecurity: Center: AHA.” American Hospital Association, https://www.aha.org/center/cybersecurity-and-risk-advisory-services/ransomware-attacks-hospitals-have-changed#:~:text=Executive%20Summary.%20Ransomware%20attacks%20on%20hospitals%20are%20not,as%20an%20opportunity%20to%20exploit%2C%20victimize%20and%20profit.
· Touro College. “The 10 Biggest Ransomware Attacks of 2021.” Touro College Illinois, Touro College, 12 Nov. 2021, https://illinois.touro.edu/news/the-10-biggest-ransomware-attacks-of-2021.php.