Healthcare still a prime target for cybercrime gangs – Week in security with Tony Anscombe

Healthcare organizations remain firmly in attackers' crosshairs, representing 20 percent of all victims of ransomware attacks among critical infrastructure entities in the US in 2023

Editor

15 Mar 2024

More than 20 percent of ransomware attacks that hit critical infrastructure organizations in the United States in 2023 were aimed at the healthcare sector, according to the 2023 Internet Crime Report of the FBI's (Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). More specifically, IC3 received 1,193 reports of attacks targeting organizations that operate in one of the nation's 16 critical infrastructure sectors, with 249 of them targeting healthcare.

This very subject also came to the fore in recent days with reports that medical firm Change Healthcare – which suffered a disruptive ransomware attack in late February that wrought havoc on prescriptions nationwide – has reportedly paid a whopping $22 million to the attackers.