Does your healthcare organization have strong ransomware mitigation tools in place?

With ransomware activity targeting the healthcare and public health sector, it is more important than ever to ensure you are leveraging the proper cybersecurity solutions to keep your organization protected.

Articles published November 6, 2020 by Kai Johnson

According to a recent Joint Cybersecurity Advisory report, ransomware activity targeting the healthcare and public health (HPH) sector are on the rise, providing additional burdens to an industry already battling COVID-19 challenges.

Key findings indicate that cyber actors are targeting the HPH sector with Trickbot malware, which can lead to ransomware attacks, data theft, and the disruption of healthcare services. Trickbot copies itself as an executable file and places this file in one of three directories. The malware uses the victim machine’s scheduled tasks that run every 15 minutes to ensure persistence – further deploying malicious scripts. In addition to Trikbot malware, the Joint Cybersecurity Advisory has also identified Ryuk malware targeting the HPH sector.

During this period of increased cyber threat activity, it is critical for health care organizations to remain vigilant and mitigate cybersecurity threats. In a time when businesses are already at an elevated risk of falling victim to harmful threat vectors, maintaining business continuity plans to minimize service disruptions is increasingly important. In addition, the CISA, FBI and HHS suggest that HPH sector organizations review or establish security policies and user agreements to ensure protection against malicious cyber actors.

The Joint Cybersecurity Advisory recommends that HPH sector organizations:

• Regularly back up data, air gap, and password protect copies offline
• Implement a recovery plan to maintain and retain multiple copies of sensitive or proprietary data and servers in a physically separate, secure location
• Focus on awareness training: provide users training on information security principles and techniques as well as overall emerging cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities
• Ensure that employees know who to contact when they see suspicious activity or when they believe they have been victim of a cyber attack

Contact Aureon for additional guidance – our experts are eager to provide additional support to your organization, especially as the HPH sector continues to endure challenges of COVID-19. We are ready to discuss how these recent trends may impact your organization, and how Aureon’s trusted technology solutions can add the layers of protection you deserve.