Cyberattacks on hospitals for patient data increase during pandemic

As more employees switched to working from home during the pandemic, cyberattacks have become more rampant on medical facilities that already saw their fair share. There’s been an increase across the world during that time. IBM reported there was a 6,000% increase in spam attacks on IT systems from March through April, many of them at healthcare facilities. Cyberattacks often stem from phishing attacks that entice people to click on email links that provide access to computer networks. Most of the phishing attacks provide basic information about the coronavirus pandemic, often impersonating health authorities. And hackers are asking for larger ransoms. In June, the University of California San Francisco’s (UCSF) network was breached and the cyberattack launched malware that encrypted a few servers within UCSF’s School of Medicine. UCSF paid $1.14 million in exchange for the stolen data, less than half the demanded ransom, and the FBI is investigating. Read more.