A United Nations Security Council meeting the week of Nov. 4 discussed ransomware and the severe impacts that cyberattacks can have on hospitals and health systems. During the meeting, Eduardo Conrado, president of Ascension Healthcare, shared insights from a cyberattack in May that disrupted operations across the health system's 120 hospitals. The attack encrypted thousands of computer systems and made electronic health records inaccessible. It also affected key diagnostic services, including magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scans. 
 
Among the challenges, "nurses were unable to look up patient records from their computer stations and were forced to comb through paper back-ups… imaging teams were unable to quickly send the latest scans up to surgeons waiting in the operating rooms, and we had to rely on runners to deliver printed copies of the scans to the hands of our surgery teams," Conrado said. It took 37 days for the organization to restore operations. 
 
"We applaud the willingness and courage of Ascension and their president, Eduardo Conrado, to come forward to speak out about their ransomware attack and the disruptive effects the attack had on patient care, ultimately posing a risk to patient safety," said John Riggi, AHA national advisor of cybersecurity and risk. "As we have been loudly advocating for years, these cross-border ransomware attacks are conducted by ransomware gangs who enjoy safe harbor provided primarily by Russia, China, North Korea and Iran. It is an international threat that can only be solved through international cooperation and a will from aligned nations to effectively increase risk and consequences for those who commit and support these despicable acts." 
 
Anne Neuberger, coordinator for U.S. national security policy on cyber and emerging technologies, discussed the scale of ransomware threats in the health sector, citing over 1,500 incidents across the country in 2023. The threats totaled $1.1 billion in payments. Neuberger said that these incidents will continue, "as long as ransoms are being paid and criminals can evade capture, particularly by fleeing across borders." 
 
For more information on this or other cyber and risk issues, contact Riggi at jriggi@aha.org. For the latest cyber and risk resources and threat intelligence, visit aha.org/cybersecurity.

Related News Articles

Headline
New guidance released yesterday by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, National Security Agency and FBI informs health care and other…
Headline
A joint advisory released Nov. 20 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and international partners warns of…
Headline
The Department of Justice Nov. 18 announced criminal charges against Evgenii Ptitsyn, a Russian national, for allegedly administering the sale, distribution…
Headline
AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack was recently a guest on Pinkston's "To the Point" podcast to discuss the future of U.S. health care, touching on a range of…
Headline
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, FBI and other federal agencies have created a webpage with the latest cyberthreat updates and information…
Headline
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Oct. 31 issued an alert on a large-scale spear-phishing campaign targeting organizations in several…