14 DAY TRIAL // Ever since ransomware hit the Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Hollywood last February, this type of infections have been out of control, affecting numerous hospitals across the globe, slowing down or shutting down their activities.
Most certainly because the Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center (HPMC) decided to pay the ransom in a highly-publicized incident, ransomware authors have started targeting hospitals more and more.
Soon after that case, ransomware infections hitting hospitals have become a weekly occurrence, and many patients and doctors faced difficulties in scheduling appointments, dealing with emergencies, or carrying out operations.
A quick review of all the major hospital ransomware infections
The first post-HPMC case was a ransomware infection that hit the Whanganui District Health Board in New Zealand. That infection was with the Locky ransomware, and the hospital continued to operate despite the IT system's contamination.
After that, two German hospitals followed, with the Lukas Hospital in the city of Neuss and the Klinikum Arnsberg hospital in North Rhine-Westphalia. According to local reports, doctors had to revert to using pen and paper, but patient care wasn't affected in any way.
Probably the worst affected of all was the Methodist Hospital in Henderson, Kentucky, which declared an "internal state of emergency," after also suffering an infection with the Locky ransomware.
After that, the MedStar Health hospital chain also reported numerous ransomware infections in hospitals in Washington (Georgetown University Hospital) and nearby areas.
Two new infections took root in the past week
The latest addition to this list is the San Diego's Alvarado Hospital Medical Center, which was actually the third hospital ransomware infection in California in the month of March.
Two other California-based hospitals have also had ransomware infections, which they managed to keep under wraps and away from the media's eyes. These were the Chino Valley Medical Center and Desert Valley Hospital.
Luckily, compared to other ransomware infections, the Alvarado Hospital Medical Center remained operational after experiencing its infection and is currently still planning not to pay the ransom.
The second recent case of ransomware infection was the King's Daughters' Health Hospital in Madison, Indiana, which also suffered a Locky ransomware infection.
This was another case with a happy ending, the hospital's staff managing to quickly separate the infection after only one employee's workstation was infected.
A recent, and rare, cyber-alert issued by US-CERT (United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team) might have helped the hospital's IT staff stay alert and vigilant.
While things look gloomy right now, most of these incidents could have been avoided with basic cyber-security training.