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Deciding Whether to Pay in a Healthcare Ransomware Attack

In the event of a healthcare ransomware attack, organizations must make the difficult decision between giving in to ransom demands or potentially risking patient safety.

Deciding Whether to Pay in a Healthcare Ransomware Attack

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By Jill McKeon

- As healthcare ransomware attacks continue to ramp up across the sector, many organizations will be forced to make a difficult decision: give in to ransom demands or potentially risk patient safety and workflow.

Erik Weinick, a seasoned litigator and co-founder of Manhattan-based law firm Otterbourg’s privacy and cybersecurity practice, knows that this is not an easy decision for any healthcare organization to make.

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“There are a number of factors that are going to play into that decision-making process,” Weinick said. “One is going to be the scope of the attack. Another is going to be who is implicated in the attack.”

Paying the ransom does not provide any assurances as to whether the data will be returned safely. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) strongly discourages paying the ransom for that reason, in addition to the fact that it may incentivize cybercriminals to continue targeting other organizations.

But EHR downtime, ambulance diversions, and workplace disruptions can directly impact patient safety, making it difficult to navigate the decision-making process.

“Obviously, your ability to continue to care for the patients in your charge is the overriding factor in how to respond,” Weinick suggested.

No matter what that decision may be, Weinick emphasized the importance of having an incident response plan and practicing that plan.

“It's a very vulnerable time for healthcare in the US and around the world because healthcare providers are putting out metaphorical fires on multiple fronts,” Weinick noted.

“They're dealing with an influx of patients, COVID restrictions, and everything that goes with that.”

Current systemic challenges may have pushed ransomware preparedness to the backburner for some organizations, but it is still crucial to allocate resources toward preparation and mitigation whenever possible.

“Everyone has a role to play in both mitigating an incident, but also in responding to it,” Weinick maintained.

“And if you don't carve out the time to drill for that and prepare and practice, it's going to show when a real incident occurs.”

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