Hollywood Hospital’s Ransom Payment Sparks Concern Over Attack Escalations

The move has unleashed a maelstrom of controversy after hospital paid to get its records back.

Ransomware is one of the fastest growing forms of cyberattack and the decision of one of its latest victims to pay to unlock their computer networks has sparked a maelstrom of controversy in the healthcare and cybersecurity circles.

Health IT Outcomes reported Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in California was struck by the ransomware on February 5 and was locked out of their computer infrastructure for over a week. The hospital was forced to rely on paper records, faxing, and other “archaic” means of patient care, diverting some emergency patients to other facilities.

According to the hospital, the attack was not malicious and instead, random, leading them to give into ransom demands and pay the $17,000 to return to business. In a statement, CEO Allen Stefanek said, “The malware locks systems by encrypting files and demanding ransom to obtain the decryption key. The quickest and most efficient way to restore our systems and administrative functions was to pay the ransom and obtain the decryption key. In the best interest of restoring normal operations, we did this.” For the full article click here 

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