Increase in ransomware attacks to healthcare’s vulnerable remote access systems threatens patients

US-based patient safety organisation ECRI has released a report highlighting the rise in ransomware attacks on the healthcare sector, targeting remote access systems. These attacks can disrupt hospitals’ operations, potentially endangering lives. Recommendations from ECRI to combat this issue include secure configuration of all systems facing the internet, blocking network traffic from adversary countries, frequent audits of remote systems, and maintaining backup and recovery systems.