Smaller Medical Providers Get Burned by Cyber Attacks

Wyoming's Campbell County Health suffered a debilitating attack last month.

Cyberattacks like this are pummeling doctors, dentists and community hospitals around the country, causing some to turn away patients and others to close their doors permanently.

With the hospital unable to provide critical services, patients were transferred to facilities as far away as South Dakota and Denver. Health records, like prescription histories, were unavailable, leaving doctors with limited information to diagnose and prescribe.

The 90-bed hospital was "forced to cancel services including radiology, endocrinology and respiratory therapy"

To adequately provide care, medical organizations maintain troves of medical and billing information. This data makes them attractive targets for cyber crime. Criminals sell stolen data for insurance-fraud purposes and lock up critical networks to extort money from the organization.

Smaller healthcare organizations are at greater risk because they generally don’t have the resources for robust security tools and might not have a dedicated cybersecurity specialist to monitor and patch their systems.

Cyber attacks have even caused permanent closures at medical practices this year. After an August attack, Wood Ranch Medical in Simi Valley, Calif., announced it would close its doors Dec. 17. Brookside ENT and Hearing Center in Battle Creek, Mich., permanently closed its doors in April after a punishing attack.

INFIMA's Partners serve community and regional healthcare providers to protect patient data and keep practices operational.

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Full article here.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/smaller-medical-providers-get-burned-by-ransomware-11570366801