(News Nation) — Cyberattacks are wreaking havoc on the revenues of businesses around the world. And they’re starting to take lives.
Hackers “want to attack people who are going to pay,” says cybersecurity expert David Malicoat. “They want the money as quickly as possible.”
Earlier this year, a Michigan woman with hypoglycemia went into cardiac arrest and died after a cyberattack targeted a test-result reporting system, and a nurse in Kansas said she nearly gave a baby the wrong amount of medication in the neonatal intensive care unit because of a paperwork mix-up.
Both incidents are rise, A Catholic health system that operates more than 140 facilities across the country.
Hospitals “know that if they are attacked, it could take minutes, possibly hours, to get back online,” Mallicoat told NewsNation’s “On Balance.”
Private and government entities have been successful in thwarting most cyberattacks, which Mallicoat likens to a hockey goalie.
“You attack hundreds of times, and one or two get through. In cybersecurity, it’s a hack that gets through. The attacker only needs to get it right once and get through.”
In London, some hospitals Ransomware attacks cripple Blood testing service Synnovis said in a statement that it will likely have to discard thousands of blood test samples because it can’t connect to electronic health records.
While direct risk to patients remains the exception rather than the rule, traditional ransomware attacks still cost healthcare systems millions of dollars.
Changing healthcare, The company, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, recently paid a $22 million ransom after hackers froze much of its payment and claims processing systems.
Even after paying the ransom, Change Healthcare says it is offering free credit monitoring services to customers who are concerned their financial or medical records may have been leaked.
