The health care industry is contending with increasing attacks by cybercriminals. Data published by the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center showed ransomware attacks hit 258 victims in the sector in the U.S. last year. That marked a 128% jump from 2022, when 113 were reported, per the CTIIC. Separately, Emsisoft reported in January that when it came to U.S. hospital systems specifically, nearly twice as many experienced ransomware attacks last year compared to the year before that.
Cybersecurity expert and Berkeley Varitronics Systems CEO Scott Schober told FOX Business in an interview this week that the increase in cyberattacks that the health care industry has been seeing is linked to the value of personal information that can potentially be stolen from them. "If you look at the personal information in any data breach that’s taken, there’s a certain value to it," he explained.
Schober also told FOX Business some hackers have implemented a "one-two punch" into their ransomware attacks in recent years, such as when they "exfiltrate" and copy data for potential before encrypting it to seek a ransom. There have been ransomware attacks on hospitals and other entities in the health care sector this year as well. Some of the most notable have included Ascension Health and UnitedHealth’s Change Healthcare unit.
The threat of cyberincidents as a whole weighs on businesses beyond those in health care, too. A report released in January by Allianz Commercial identified cyberincidents as 2024’s "top business risk" based on a survey of over 3,000 businesses in various sectors, industry trade organizations, risk management professionals and others. Of the respondents, more than one-third – 36% – said cyberincidents posed the biggest threat.