Ransomware attacks on hospitals are issues of life and death, warns WHO chief

Published November 08,2024

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The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday stated that cyberattacks focusing on hospitals aren’t merely safety breaches, however “issues of life and death.”

“Let’s be clear at the outset that ransomware and other cyberattacks on hospitals and other health facilities are not just issues of security and confidentiality, they can be issues of life and death,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus advised a UN Security Council session on “threats posed by ransomware attacks against hospitals and other healthcare facilities and services.”

Noting the escalating hazard posed by ransomware assaults, he confused that cybercriminals shut down digital well being infrastructure and demand a ransom to revive entry.

Tedros warned that hackers are exploiting the “threat to patient safety, confidentiality, and service disruption” to extend their ransom calls for.

“Surveys have shown that attacks on the healthcare sector have increased in both scale and frequency,” he stated, including that this is because of “success the hackers got in attacking hospitals or health facilities.”

Highlighting a world survey from 2021 stating that over a 3rd of worldwide healthcare organizations reported an assault in 2021, Tedros stated many amenities opted to pay ransoms to regain entry, and but “31% of respondents did not regain access to their encrypted data.”

The WHO, in cooperation with different UN companies, is working to help healthcare programs with technical help, requirements, and techniques to construct resilience in opposition to such cyber threats, he stated.

Urging governments to take a extra complete strategy, recognizing that “cybersecurity is a whole of government responsibility,” Tedros stated that well being sector authorities and funders stay accountable for securing digital well being infrastructures.

He recalled that know-how performs a key position in cybersecurity, and confused that “our mindset must change radically to acknowledge that we cannot rely on IT systems alone.”

Investing in individuals and fostering worldwide cooperation is crucial, he defined, as “humans are both the weakest and strongest links in cyber security.”

He referred to as on the Security Council to think about cybercrime as a severe worldwide risk, including, “Just as viruses don’t respect borders, nor do cyberattacks.”