Over the past 4 years, the healthcare industry has increasingly been targeted by cyber criminals with ransomware attacks. These stats speak for themselves:

It’s unfortunate that hackers are exploiting the vulnerabilities created by the pandemic. They are increasing the frequency and severity of ransomware attacks on hospitals and healthcare organizations. In some cases, hospitals are having to divert financial resources away from IT projects in order to meet the needs of an increasingly sick community. 

How do they do it?

We know ransomware is malware which infiltrates and infects an organization’s networks. It steals data, encrypts it, and threatens to release or destroy the data unless the organization pays the ransom. Criminal hacking groups like Maze have been targeting hospitals and inspiring copycat attackers to go after healthcare by publishing attack strategies on the dark web. The FBI sent out a warning in January to spread awareness and encourage organizations to be on guard for these kinds of attacks. Unfortunately, many organizations simply aren’t prepared. Traditional antivirus software does nothing to prevent the level of sophisticated attacks deployed by hackers today. 

What can you do? 

As cybercriminal tactics strengthen and evolve, so do defensive solutions against them. SIEM (security information and event management) solutions are highly effective methods of putting alerts into context so engineers can hone in on the truly suspicious activity. Cloud security platforms and CASBs (Cloud Access Security Brokers) are emerging such as Netskope, which provides comprehensive threat protection when accessing the web and private applications from anywhere on any device. Identity management software such as Okta helps IT staff manage system access across any application, person, or device. Volta is excited to partner with these industry-leading companies to bring cyber security services to the community. 

Last year, Volta was able to strengthen the security practice of a large hospital system in the region. We installed and configured a SIEM, which would allow them to monitor their network infrastructure more efficiently. They can now see what is happening at a granular level inside their environment and can locate malicious activity when and where it occurs.

The numbers don’t lie. Attacks on healthcare are on the rise, but you don’t have to fight the bad guys alone. Contact Volta to learn more.