A patient has died as result of a cyberattack at a German hospital. As per hospital investogation, hacker attacked a weak spot in “widely used commercial add-on software,” resulting in system crashed and the hospital wasn’t able to access data; emergency patients were taken elsewhere and operations postponed. Cybersecurity experts reacted below on this critical incident.
When cyberattacks impact critical systems, there can be real-world consequences. We’re not used to thinking of cyberattacks in terms of life and death, but that was the case here. Delays in treatment, regardless of the cause, can be life-threatening.
Ransomware doesn’t just suddenly appear on systems. It has to get there through exploited vulnerabilities, phishing, or other means. While we tend to focus on the ransomware itself, the best way to avoid becoming a victim is to prevent the infection in the first place. And the best way to prevent ransomware infections is to address the infection vectors by patching vulnerabilities, ensuring systems are configured securely, and preventing phishing.