Jane Edwards
Alex Whitworth, cybersecurity solutions vertical executive at Carahsoft Technology, discussed the ransomware attacks on health care organizations and utilities that information technology administrators should understand as they assess the cybersecurity posture of their organizations and implement measures to protect their networks from such attacks.
Whitworth wrote in a blog post published Monday that ransomware attacks on health care organizations rose from 34 percent in 2020 to 66 percent in 2021 and health institutions that paid the ransom recovered only 65 percent of their data in 2021.
He noted that investments in cyber defenses could help health care organizations reduce the impact of ransomware.
An annual report by IMB Security showed that organizations that fully implemented cybersecurity measures experienced an average breach cost reduction of 65 percent.
For the utilities sector, Whitworth cited the ransomware attacks on Colonial Pipeline and on a water treatment facility in Florida in 2021.
A Trend Micro study shows that nearly 90 percent of electricity, manufacturing, oil and gas firms have witnessed cyberattacks impacting energy supply and production in the past year and nearly half of those did not implement additional prevention measures following the attacks.
According to Whitworth, the Environmental Protection Agency will soon institute additional cybersecurity requirements to protect national water infrastructure from hackers and companies in the utilities sector should work to assess their systems and enhance their defenses and recovery plans.
“While legislation develops to address the current cybersecurity gaps, sectors like healthcare and utilities must actively take initiative to address system weaknesses and make it more difficult for cybercriminals to infiltrate,” Whitworth wrote.
“Investing in the necessary changes and updates is crucial for U.S. critical infrastructure organizations before their individual institutions become the next target,” he added.
