Cybersecurity authorities in the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and United Kingdom today advised organizations to apply timely patches and implement a centralized patch management system to reduce their risk of compromise from the most common cyber vulnerabilities exploited by malicious cyber actors in 2021 and 2020.

John Riggi, AHA’s national advisor for cybersecurity and risk, said, “According to this advisory from the ‘Five Eyes’ nations, hackers develop and deploy malware that exploits a known vulnerability within two weeks of its public release. This is often far quicker than patches are available and organizations can implement them — especially in hospitals, where patches must be thoroughly tested before being applied to ensure uninterrupted care delivery and patient safety. This advisory gives us clear direction on the most exploited vulnerabilities that should be prioritized for patching, if not already done so. It is also clear that hackers are often less interested in identifying an unknown or ‘zero-day’ vulnerability for exploitation than they are in simply beating us in a race to ‘exploit before we patch.’” 

Related News Articles

Headline
Microsoft July 19 issued an alert about active attacks from vulnerabilities targeting SharePoint servers used within organizations. The incidents have not…
Headline
In his latest AHA Cyber and Risk Intel blog, Scott Gee, AHA deputy national advisor for cybersecurity and risk, explains how hospitals can prepare for and…
AHA Cyber Intel
In today’s heightened threat environment, driven by domestic and geopolitical issues, it is more critical than ever for hospitals to prepare for and mitigate…
Headline
In a statement submitted to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee for a hearing today on health care cybersecurity and patient privacy,…
Headline
Cyberattacks on hospitals are urgent threats to patient safety, care delivery and public trust. In this conversation, Ajay Gupta, board chair of Trinity Health…
Headline
The Food and Drug Administration yesterday released a safety notice announcing a software patch is available to address cybersecurity vulnerabilities in…