In 2024, 389 U.S. healthcare institutions were hit by ransomware, which led to widespread network shutdowns, offline systems, delays in critical medical procedures and the rescheduling of appointments, an Oct. 22 report from Microsoft found.
Four things to know from Microsoft's report "U.S. Healthcare at risk: Strengthening resiliency against ransomware attacks:"
- Healthcare organizations lost an average of $900,000 per day in downtime due to ransomware attacks.
- Ransomware attacks have increased by 300% since 2015, with healthcare being among the most impacted industries.
- Out of 402 healthcare organizations surveyed, 67% reported experiencing a ransomware attack in the past year. Notably, 53% of these organizations acknowledged paying ransoms in 2024, an increase from 42% in 2023.
- Of the 99 healthcare organizations that acknowledged paying a ransom and disclosed the amounts, the median payment was $1.5 million, while the average payment reached $4.4 million.