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Alabama Hospital Chain Pays Ransom Following Ransomware Attack

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Ransomware attacks are a leading cybersecurity issue that is sweeping the nation.

ransomware

Daniel De Steno, a dental IT services professional with NOVA Computer Solutions shares important information regarding a recent attack at an Alabama hospital chain. 

Ransomware is a new form of cyber attacking that is a growing problem around the world. Across the globe, major companies are having confidential data attacked, which poses a high level of concern for many businesses.

What is Ransomware?

Ransomware is malicious software used by hackers to steal computer data, then they release it after a sum of money has been paid. Typically, the hacker will demand a certain amount of money in a certain amount of time or they’ll lose the data forever. However, paying the ransom doesn’t always ensure you’ll get all of that vital data back.

Attack at an Alabama Hospital Chain

Being recently hit by a ransomware attack, a hospital chain in Western Alabama just went back to normal operations after paying ransom to have their data restored.

The hospital chain hasn’t released the amount that they paid and they claim that it was covered by insurance. But this business wasn’t the only one recently hit with one of these attacks.

A recent report states that several hospitals and medical providers in the United States and Australia were also hit with recent attacks that have made administrators shut down part of their IT systems.

These attacks at medical centers are extremely detrimental to the safety of confidential data, and play a huge role in how, and if, a patient can receive treatment. In fact, with the recent attack involving the hospital chain mentioned above, many hospitals were severely affected for 10 days. These hospitals were able to still treat existing patients, but new patients were sent to other hospitals in Birmingham, AL or Mississippi.

A Growing Issue Around the United States

This forces medical providers to seek out many ways to protect their systems, and even forces them to use paper filing processes that haven’t been in use for decades.

As this is impacting many hospitals in Alabama, several U.S. cities have also suffered ransomware attacks recently. In fact, just in the month of August, at least 23 local governments in Texas were hit with coordinated ransomware attacks.

More Confidential Data Equals Higher Ransom

With how vital data can be within any given system, businesses have agreed to pay top-dollar to have their data restored. From personal data imaging for patients to payment information from millions of credit cards, there is a lot of important data that has been breached.

So how much ransom are we talking about? How much are companies willing to pay? According to Ilan Sendri who owns an IT company in West Palm Beach shares information about recent ransomware attacks in Flordia, the city of Rivera Beach agreed to pay $600,000 in ransom to decrypt its data following an attack that hit its computer system. And only a few days later, the neighbor town, Lake City, also agreed to pay nearly $500,000 to have their data restored.

Many Are Looking for Solutions

Recent reports note that ransomware attacks have also been happening in Wyoming, Georgia, and throughout many other states around the country. This is creating a high demand for cyberattack insurance and is forcing companies to step up their protective measures to keep their data safe.