Healthcare hackers demanded an average ransom of $4.6M last year, says BakerHostetler

The 2020 BakerHostetler Data Security Incident Response Report reveals that ransomware attacks continued to be a significant threat, resulting in lawsuits. Healthcare and education were the most affected industries. The average initial ransom demand was $4,583,090. The report also highlights the trend of stealing data before encrypting it to pressure companies to pay ransoms. Ransomware attacks can be devastating for healthcare systems already strained by COVID-19. Despite advice against paying ransoms, some organizations still do so. The report also mentions the growing number of data breach class action lawsuits and settlements for HIPAA breaches.