Hospitals around the country are at an increased risk of being victim to coordinated ransomware attacks.
There is, according to a joint advisory created by the FBI, Department of Health and Human Services and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, “credible information of an increased and imminent cybercrime threat” to American hospitals and healthcare providers. They are advising them take the necessary precautions to protect their networks.
NPR reports that number of U.S. hospitals have recently been hit by cyberattacks using a software called Ryuk ransomware, which encrypts the data and locks it up. These attacks hurt online systems, resulting in many paying up to millions of dollars to restore their services.
Officials are recommending to not pay ransoms, as it doesn’t guarantee recovery and could encourage future attacks.
The FBI says that attacks of this nature have increased in recent years, targeting hospitals, school districts, and other organizations.