As healthcare providers continue to be top targets for cybersecurity attacks, Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Bob Brewer was quoted in an article by Lexology Pro offering insight on how providers can or should respond when they fall victim to ransomware attacks.
“It’s a different analysis,” Bob said in weighing difficulties specific to healthcare entities responsible for patient data and services that may be affected by ransomware. “When I’m working with someone in banking or manufacturing it is a different analysis. Typically, you’re talking about operational disruption. … Here, when you have potentially your own patients impacted, it’s a definite added pressure.”
To make matters worse, Bob added that cyber criminals are also reducing the grace period they once gave to providers to respond when patient services were impacted by an attack. Previously “if you said you’re affecting patient care they would tend to give us time to negotiate and try to come to a deal. That has changed,” Bob said. Now “they are more ruthless” and demand payment even when patient care is affected.
The full article, ““The Game Has Gotten Dirtier”: The Life-Threatening Issue of Healthcare Ransomware,” was published by Lexology Pro on March 22 and is available online (subscription required).