Ransomware attacks on hospitals considered a National Security issue by a former FBI official and current National Advisor for Cybersecurity and Risk at the American Hospital Association in Washington DC, John Riggi.
The point made in this article is that cybercrime is not simply a monetary problem when the damage threatens patient lives in real time. This particular hospital system is the only level 1 trauma center within 400 miles and the attack prompted the diversion of ambulances and critical care cases that normally would have been handled by the hospital.
This attack is not unique (which by now you are probably aware) but another in a series of incidents which in 2023 included 46 hospital systems with a total of 141 hospitals impacted.
The threat here is obvious, fraud and monetary schemes are somewhat commonplace in the cyber world but targeting systems that impact life and death has shifted the threat into a dark and deadly arena.
The broader policy question that at some point we are going to have to face as a nation is whether or not harboring these criminals (or outright sponsoring them) should be considered grounds for retaliation. Were Russia or China to physically attack a sovereign US institution and lives were threatened or lost there would be very little nuance to the question....
Harden the Target, Stay Vigilant!
