A record number of cyberattacks in 2023 is putting patients at risk as attackers knock out services, according to John Riggi, national advisor for the American Hospital Association, The Wall Street Journal reported Sept. 7.
Mr. Riggi said that hospitals should prepare for three to four weeks of downtime in the event of a cyberattack and have a plan to send critical patients to nearby hospitals. The FBI has begun to treat cyberattacks on hospitals as threat-to-life crimes, meaning that they can begin to use more offensive tactics to disrupt ransomware groups.
The FBI recently took down Qakbot, a botnet network that enabled the attack on Culver City, Calif.-based Prospect Medical Group.
"We can't defend our way out of this problem, just like we can't arrest our way out of terrorism," Mr. Riggi said.