Protecting Patient Data During Hospital Ransomware Attacks

In any cyber-attack, patient data may be at risk. In the final part of our series, What You Need to Know: Hospital Ransomware Attacks, we ask Tom Andre, VP of Information Services at CAP, Inc., about what hospitals should do to ensure that patient data and medical records are kept safe in the event of an attack.

Mr. Andre explains that hospitals need to have a disaster plan (such as the ability to use paper forms if a computer system is unavailable) and that it is vital to regularly backup hospital data. In fact, if data back-ups are sufficient, it may be possible for a hospital to avoid paying a ransom and just restore their system from the backup. However, there is no firm rule about how frequently systems and data should be backed up, so it is up to the hospital’s discretion. Additionally, having a backup will only restore data and systems. It will not protect or prevent data from being stolen. To learn more, watch Part VII of our series below. To watch the full interview, click here.