Following the news that 28 NHS trusts in England have been victims of ransomware incursions in the last 12 months, according to from a recent Freedom of Information request. Gordon Morrison, Director of Government Relations at Intel Security commented below.
Gordon Morrison, Director of Government Relations at Intel Security:
“Ransomware is proving a lucrative business – with the Cyber Threat Alliance recently stating that one ransomware family (CryptoWall 4) has extorted $18M so far. And with health records reportedly worth 10 times more than other data, such as bank records, the threat to the health industry is significant.
“With news today that as many as 28 NHS trusts in England have fallen victim to ransomware in the last year alone, there can be no dispute as to the threat this attack vector poses to the NHS. Trusts should take all necessary steps to prevent ransomware infections and to reduce the impact of attacks when they breach defences. From backing-up systems daily and developing an incident response policy, to educating staff on how to spot ‘phishing attacks’, organisations actively working to reduce their risk will find themselves better placed to fend off ransomware attackers – protecting patient data, revenues and reputations.
“Organisations that want to learn more about the preventative measures and the tools available to combat this threat should look to the No More Ransomware Project, from the National High Tech Crime Unit of the Netherlands’ police, Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre, and Intel Security and Kaspersky Lab.”
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