Hooray for Hollywood! – Hackers Hold Healthcare Hostage

Hackers Hold Hollywood Healthcare Hostage

Hooray for Hollywood! – Hackers Hold Healthcare Hostage with ransomware.

Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center paid a $17,000 ransom in bitcoin to hackers who seized control of the hospital’s computer systems holding them a healthcare hostage. The cyber assault on Hollywood Presbyterian occurred Feb. 5, 2016, when hackers using malware infected the institution’s computers, preventing hospital staff from being able to communicate from those devices.

In 2015 the most cyber crime bloodletting occurred in healthcare and 2016 is already trending to the same trajectory. Cyber security providers out there offer Band-aid solutions but what the healthcare industry needs is a cure. Continuum GRC has the solution that can inoculate your organization against these threats, preventing hackers from holding your patients and your business a healthcare hostage.

2016 data breach trends.

What could Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center have done differently to have avoided being a victim to hackers? For starters, they could have taken a proactive approach and identified where their risks were, but instead they took a reactive approach, and now their business has been damaged. The cyber security experts at Continuum GRC know that when you take a proactive approach to security, compliance, audit and governance, you eliminate the potential for sending your business to the emergency room or worse yet, the morgue!

The following steps are proven to help:

  1. Conduct a systematic standards-based risk assessment of your organization
  2. Complete an internal controls assessment using industry frameworks to guide you through the process
  3. Proactively review all threat vectors eliminating them before criminals exploit them

Sound daunting? We know it is and that is why Continuum GRC takes the guesswork and complexity out of the assessment and certification process. Subscribe to the best tools that are guaranteed to help you avoid becoming a victim to hackers.

Check this out for yourself by contacting us at 1-888-896-6207 or just sign-up for a free trial.

Michael Peters

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8 comments

Ransomware Attacks Show that Healthcare Must Take Cybersecurity Seriously - MichaelPeters.org

[…] a piece of ransomware called Locky to attack Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles, rendering the organization’s computers inoperable. After a week, the hospital gave in to the hackers’ demands and paid a $17,000.00 Bitcoin ransom […]

Ransomware Attacks Show that Healthcare Must Take Cybersecurity Seriously - Continuum GRC

[…] a piece of ransomware called Locky to attack Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles, rendering the organization’s computers inoperable. After a week, the hospital gave in to the hackers’ demands and paid a $17,000.00 Bitcoin ransom […]

IoT Security: Medical Devices Are the Next Target for Hackers - Continuum GRC

[…] from a number of major ransomware attacks in the past few months, beginning in February, when Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital, after being locked out of their system for a week, paid hackers the equivalent of $17,000.00 in Bitcoin to get back in. Some security experts feel […]

Spear Phishing: Don’t Take the Bait! - MichaelPeters.org

[…] February 2016, while everyone’s attention was focused on the Hollywood Presbyterian ransomware attack, Main Line Health, which operates four hospitals near Philadelphia, was hit by a spear phishing […]

Spear Phishing: Don’t Take the Bait! - Continuum GRC

[…] February 2016, while everyone’s attention was focused on the Hollywood Presbyterian ransomware attack, Main Line Health, which operates four hospitals near Philadelphia, was hit by a spear phishing […]

The NSA Hack and the Sorry State of Cyber Security | Continuum GRC

[…] Numerous ransomware attacks on the healthcare industry, including the infamous Hollywood Presbyterian attack […]

Education Cyber Security: Why Are Schools Getting Hacked? | Continuum GRC

[…] on New Year’s Eve that disabled the school’s critical systems. In a repeat of last year’s Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center ransomware incident, the college broke down and paid a ransom of $28,000 in Bitcoin to get back […]

Will Cryptocurrency Regulation Attempts Do More Harm Than Good? -

[…] Due to the very nature of cryptocurrencies – unlike fiat currencies, they are not issued or overseen by any central authority – attempts at cryptocurrency regulation have been slow and scattered. Unfortunately, it also appears that they may be harming the “good guys” more than the criminals, as reported in a recent story by CoinDesk. White-hat hacker Vinny Troia found his account on U.S. Bitcoin exchange Coinbase suspended after the exchange flagged his account for engaging in what they considered to be illegal activity, namely, paying ransomware demands and purchasing data from the Dark Net. Problem is, Troia was doing these things on behalf of his clients. Sometimes, Troia told CoinDesk, the best way to find out if a client’s information has truly been compromised, or to determine the scope of a hack, is to buy the data sets in question. Further, while it’s generally advised not to pay ransomware demands, some victims feel that paying up is their best bet; Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center thought so. […]

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