Ransomware Accounted for Most Attacks Against Hospitals Globally, McAfee Reports

Most of the two dozen hospital cyberattacks globally in the first half of 2016, including 13 in the U.S., involved ransomware, said a McAfee Labs threats report Wednesday: Those attacks, which largely infected systems through phishing, weren't executed by malicious actors normally seen. "The code and attack was effective but not very sophisticated," the report said. But money can be made quickly through these attacks; the report said ransom paid in Q1 attacks against hospitals was about $100,000 total. The report said most hospitals didn't pay ransom, but those targeted by one threat called "samsam" did seem to pay. McAfee, which is part of Intel Security, said hospitals are easy targets due to a "combination of legacy systems with weak security, a lack of employee security awareness, a fragmented workforce, and the pressing need for immediate access to information." Experts at an FTC event last week on ransomware (see 1609070044) said it's a growing threat that's spreading to sectors beyond healthcare.