Becker's Healthcare November 13, 2020
Cyberattacks are hitting U.S. hospitals as COVID-19 cases surge across the U.S.
In some cases, the attacks could hinder a hospital’s ability to respond to the pandemic. Hospitals typically take their IT systems offline to prevent further malware infection after identifying a breach. The process to restore those systems is slow and often requires more antivirus software installation before systems are returned fully online. It may take weeks, and in some cases months, for hospitals to resume normal operations. During the downtime, hospital staff revert to paper records and nondigital communication which affects patient hand-offs and prescriptions.
Hospitals sometimes postpone nonurgent services during the downtime. The disruption to clinical care is particularly challenging for hospitals that need all their resources...