From securityweek.com
One in four (27%) employees of healthcare organizations in North America admit to being aware of a ransomware attack targeting their employer over the past year, a new Kaspersky Lab survey reveals.
Ransomware attacks have plagued organizations in numerous sectors over the past several years, and the healthcare industry was one of their preferred victims, although security researchers have already noticed a downward trend in such incidents.
According to Kaspersky Lab, one in six (17%) healthcare employees admitted that their organization was hit by ransomware in the past five years, and only 12% are aware of such an attack occurring over the past two years. Of those who admit awareness of such cyber-security incidents, however, a third (33%) revealed that the organization was hit more than once.
Of those healthcare employees who admitted being aware of a
cyberattack
occurring, 85% of Canadians and 78% of Americans claim to have experienced up to five ransomware incidents in the past five years or more, the research reveals.
Kaspersky’s “Cyber Pulse: The State of Cybersecurity in Healthcare” report (PDF) is based on responses from 1,758 employees working at healthcare organizations in North America (1,004 in the United States and 754 in Canada) in October 2018, in roles ranging from doctors and
surgeons,
to administrators and IT staff.