Half of ransomware attacks have disrupted healthcare delivery, JAMA report finds

A study by University of Minnesota Public Health researchers found that ransomware attacks on the U.S. healthcare sector have more than doubled from 2016 to 2021. Nearly half of the attacks disrupted the delivery of healthcare, with some causing operational disruptions of more than two weeks. Around 20% of healthcare organizations were able to restore data from backups, but 15.8% of attacks resulted in stolen patient health information being made public. The study also highlighted underreporting of incidents, suggesting that the statistics may underestimate the true extent of the problem.