UN Security Council meeting discusses impact of ransomware attacks on hospitals

A United Nations Security Council meeting the week of Nov. 4 discussed ransomware and the severe impacts that cyberattacks can have on hospitals and health systems. During the meeting, Eduardo Conrado, president of Ascension Healthcare, shared insights from a cyberattack in May which disrupted operations across the health system's 120 hospitals. The attack encrypted thousands of computer systems and made electronic health records inaccessible. It also affected key diagnostic services, including magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scans.

Among the challenges, "nurses were unable to look up patient records from their computer stations and were forced to comb through paper back-ups… imaging teams were unable to quickly send the latest scans up to surgeons waiting in the operating rooms, and we had to rely on runners to deliver printed copies of the scans to the hands of our surgery teams," Conrado said. It took 37 days for the organization to restore operations.

"We applaud the willingness and courage of Ascension and their president, Eduardo Conrado to come forward to speak out about their ransomware attack and the disruptive effects the attack had on patient care, ultimately posing a risk to patient safety," said John Riggi, AHA national advisor of cybersecurity and risk. "As we have been loudly advocating for years, these cross-border ransomware attacks are conducted by ransomware gangs who enjoy safe harbor provided primarily by Russia, China, North Korea and Iran. It is an international threat that can only be solved through international cooperation, and a will from aligned nations to effectively increase risk and consequences for those who commit and support these despicable acts."

Anne Neuberger, coordinator for U.S. national security policy on cyber and emerging technologies, discussed the scale of ransomware threats in the health sector, citing over 1,500 incidents across the country in 2023. The threats totaled $1.1 billion in payments. Neuberger said that these incidents will continue, "as long as ransoms are being paid and criminals can evade capture, particularly by fleeing across borders."

For more information on this or other cyber and risk issues, contact Riggi at [email protected]. For the latest cyber and risk resources and threat intelligence, visit aha.org/cybersecurity.