During these Covid days, one of the most vulnerable sectors in terms of cybersecurity is the health care industry—a market already coping with materials shortages and a new wave of infections. On October 28, the FBI Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a joint warning about an “imminent and increased cybercrime threat to U.S. hospitals and healthcare providers.” The warning comes despite a promised “detente” issued back in March by several hackers, who vowed not to target healthcare facilities.  Yet, as noted in an article in Government Technology, two dozen hospitals have already hit with ransomware requests attributed to a Russian threat group known as Wizard Spider.

“Hospitals are vulnerable because they are a mix of IT systems from a wide array of vendors” most of which “have a medical, not a computer security background,” notes Dr. Justin Cappos, an associate professor of chemical engineering at NYU Tandon School of Engineering, who was asked to comment on the threat. The complete article, including more thoughts from Dr. Cappos can be read here.