The hack on Colonial Pipeline Co. over the weekend has underscored the threats that ransomware attacks are posing across several industries, including hospitals and health systems, according to a May 10 WTVD report.
DarkSide, a criminal gang based in Eastern Europe, orchestrated the hack that has led to the shutdown of a main pipeline that supplies gasoline and diesel fuel to the U.S. East Coast, according to a May 10 Wall Street Journal report.
"Every organization is facing these kinds of attacks every day. You just know it," Raleigh, N.C.-based WakeMed CIO Peter Marks, PhD, told WTVD. "It's incredibly serious."
In October, the FBI, HHS and the Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency under the Department of Homeland Security issued a warning for hospitals to stay guarded against Ryuk ransomware, which was used in a string of cyberattacks against U.S. hospitals that month. Cybersecurity firms warned that criminal organizations claimed to have a list of more than 400 targeted hospitals for attacks.
"The biggest risk is to your reputation," WakeMed Chief Compliance Officer Ted Lotchin told WTVD. "We are WakeMed, we've been here for 60 years and our mission is to provide outstanding and compassionate healthcare to anyone who walks in through our doors. If folks don't have faith and trust in protecting your information, it's hard to get over that. The privacy side and the security side are really about as intertwined as you can imagine."
At least 30 hospitals and health systems across the country have reported data breaches to HHS this year.