Researchers from Moody's Investors Service said that large healthcare systems will continue to experience ransomware attacks in the future and they “need to deploy additional resources to thwart future cybersecurity breaches even as the pandemic continues to use up significant clinical, financial and strategic resources,” Healthcare Dive reports.
Previous ransomware attacks against hospital systems led to interrupted patient care and hospital operations, and patient death in some cases, the Moody’s report stated.
“Given the growing frequency of attacks and the greater potential for operational disruption, regulatory scrutiny and reputational risk, the sector will come under increasing pressure to boost its investment in cybersecurity,” according to the report. “However, funds needed for cybersecurity will present a potential constraint on liquidity and operating performance, particularly as health systems face increasing costs as staffing and supply shortages will remain an industrywide challenge.”
“While there is no way to fully prevent cyber breaches, the expanding adoption of … telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic will yield additional vulnerabilities, as potentially unsecured devices will be used to access health system networks,” the report added.
Previous ransomware attacks against hospital systems led to interrupted patient care and hospital operations, and patient death in some cases, the Moody’s report stated.
“Given the growing frequency of attacks and the greater potential for operational disruption, regulatory scrutiny and reputational risk, the sector will come under increasing pressure to boost its investment in cybersecurity,” according to the report. “However, funds needed for cybersecurity will present a potential constraint on liquidity and operating performance, particularly as health systems face increasing costs as staffing and supply shortages will remain an industrywide challenge.”
“While there is no way to fully prevent cyber breaches, the expanding adoption of … telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic will yield additional vulnerabilities, as potentially unsecured devices will be used to access health system networks,” the report added.
