Another Medical System Ransomware Attack

I'm old enough to remember when Obama told us that computerizing all of our medical records would make everything better. It may have had that impact overall, but it also introduced some side effects. Mississippi hospital system closes all clinics after ransomware attack

I haven't written about ransomware in some time. Not really a conscious decision, it just hasn't been bubbling to the top of my news feed. And for the most part, corporate C-suites have been sufficiently hit over the head to take security at least a bit seriously. But you apparently still can't tell doctors how to do they jobs, not even the part that are information technology related.

Ransomware attacks against public schools and agencies have proliferated in recent years. They have shutdown 911 dispatch functions and exposed sensitive student data, among other harms.

Doctors and lawyers don't take too well to being told what to do, though to be fair, I've never worked with or for doctors. Public schools are typically spending money on things that don't matter, and there is little to no fallout for the people who run them. (Can you fire a public school administrator? Probably easier than firing a public school teacher, but not easy.)

And this kind of ransomware attack has real world impacts.

Richard Bell, 55, drove three hours from his home in Oxford the medical center’s main campus in Jackson on Friday only to learn that he wouldn’t be able to get his bloodwork or chemotherapy treatment.

“It was all shut down,” Bell said. “It gets pretty frustrating.”

The FBI is involved, and the medical system is restoring (trying?) to restore.

The one thing I've noticed is that the press, even the tech press, almost never reports on how the system in question was compromised. Was it a phishing attack that someone fell for, or a technical defect in their security that was penetrated? Inquiring minds...