Experts predict cyberattacks on U.S. hospitals will increase and say the government isn’t doing enough to address them or to provide hospitals with the resources they need.
As hospitals increasingly turn to online technology for patient records, telehealth and medical devices, they become a more attractive target for hackers who charge ransoms to release captured data and networks.
Cybersecurity analyst Brett Callow said the government should ban the payment of these ransoms, adding that “unless governments do something more meaningful, more significant than they have done to date, it’s inevitable that it’ll get worse.”
HHS plans to rewrite the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act rules this year to include new cybersecurity provisions, and Deputy Secretary Andrea Palm said the agency is seeking money from Congress to support compliance. “This has to come with resources … We can’t set the industry up not to be able to meet requirements.”
