NEWS
Cyberattacks on hospitals spike by 45 % worldwide
The surge in cyberattacks on the healthcare sector was double the increase in cyberattacks on all other industries during the same time period , as researchers marked only a 22 % increase in attacks on all other sectors outside of healthcare .
The increase in attacks involves a range of attack vectors , including ransomware , botnets , remote code execution and DDoS attacks . Ransomware showed the largest increase and poses as the most significant malware threat to healthcare organisations , when compared to other industry sectors .
Cyberattacks by region
Researchers at cybersecurity vendor , Check Point , have reported a surge in cyberattacks targeting healthcare organisations across the globe .
The surges in cyberattacks on healthcare organisations occurred mostly in Central Europe (+ 145 %), followed by East Asia (+ 137 %), Latin America (+ 112 %), Europe (+ 67 %) and North America (+ 37 %). As for specific countries , Canada experienced the most dramatic increase with over a 250 % uptick in attacks , followed by Germany with a 220 % increase . Spain saw a doubling in ransomware attacks on its healthcare sector .
Since the beginning of November 2020 , researchers have documented a 45 % increase in cyberattacks targeting healthcare organisations worldwide , placing the healthcare sector at the top of the hit list for cybercriminals , when compared to all other industries .
Omer Dembinsky , Manager of Data Intelligence at Check Point , said : “ Cyberattacks on the global healthcare sector are simply getting out of control . This is because targeting hospitals equates to fast money for cybercriminals .”
Hospitals can keep track of COVID-19 vaccinations within their workforce thanks to booking service
The Vaccination Management Service , created by UK company , TAAP , has already been successfully rolled-out at a hospital trust in London , as the most vulnerable and healthcare workers start to receive the Pfizer / BioNtech vaccine .
The vaccine rollout has particular timing and logistical issues , and TAAP ’ s Vaccination Management Service is designed to help overcome some of these complexities by helping support the hospitals and other organisations to assign vaccinations on dose / vaccine availability .
The Vaccination Management Service keeps track of bookings , while adding people onto a waiting list once all stock has been used . It also ensures first and second appointments are booked at the same time , with first and second appointments potentially at different locations , and each with their own contact plan , confirmation ,
24-hour reminder and on-the-day reminder for both email and SMS .
Steve Higgon , CEO of TAAP , said : “ We are delighted to play our part in helping the UK rollout the COVID-19 vaccine and return to normality once again . The TAAP Vaccination Management Service means that all the stresses , strains and complexities involved in distributing the jab within hospitals are eased thanks to our easy-to-use system . We are proud that a hospital trust in London is the first to adopt the solution and we are hoping to work with many more hospitals in the coming weeks and months to help them with their own vaccine rollouts .”
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