Ransomware is ramping up in healthcare. A newer Ransomware weapon, labeled “Philadelphia” last Fall by cybersecurity experts, has surfaced recently in the healthcare field. An off the shelf version of Philadelphia is widely available to cyber criminals and they use “spear phishing” email attacks. Spear phishing is the name applied to a harder-to-detect attack because it appears to come from a trusted source, and is specifically targeted at you. Another tactic similar to spear phishing, also personalized, is used against the C-Suite and is called whaling, where the rewards for the criminal are higher if successful. By contrast, phishing typically appears to come from a widely-known brand or website, like Netflix, PayPal, or the U.S. Postal Service, and you’ve been randomly chosen. A spear phishing or whaling attack looks personal because it is. They’ve gathered information about you to fool you.
Hospitals and larger organizations are being targeted more now in 2017. Criminals collect ransom in bitcoin which provides anonymity, and large organizations often have cyber insurance to pay and get them back in business. It’s a rational choice but only increases criminals’ appetites to go after others.
What to do about this growing threat? It’s expensive, causes business interruption and exposes organizations to HIPAA violations when patient privacy is breached. Workforce members need to learn about cyber security and receive training on how to detect and avoid phishing of all kinds. The HIPAA E-Tool® contains workforce training on phishing and Ransomware. Make it a priority, learn more, and get serious about training at every level, from the front office to the C-Suite.
We tell our clients to “Think Before You Click”, and pause. In today’s world, unfortunately, we should all be more suspicious and should not click on attachments or links inside of emails unless we are 100% confident it is not Ransomware. If you are the least bit suspicious you should immediately notify your security official and IT staff. It doesn’t hurt to pause and could prevent huge losses of data, time, money and reputation.
