Cybersecurity: Everything You Need to Know to Protect Your Assets

Last Saturday night, a French hospital suffered a ransomware-type cyberattack leading to no or limited access to most of its computers and medical devices. The attack is still ongoing. The criminals are demanding a ransom of $10 million to remove the digital lock from the workstations of the hospital staff. This unfortunate event reminds us that hospitals are not the only ones at risk. Any organization can be a target. Therefore, how can you secure your assets? In this special report, you will find a recap of the most common cyber threats and some recommendations on how to better protect your systems from them.

Lindsay Clark, Eduardo Di Monte and Camille Rustici contributed to this special report.

Cyber attacks are frequent and the healthcare sector is increasingly subject to hacking via ransomware. The hackers did not even stop their attacks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2020, a ransomware attack struck the digital equipment of a major hospital chain in the US. All the hospital’s computers suddenly shut off, medical files were lost and many of the patients had to be sent to other facilities.

Cyberattacks in the healthcare sector are a matter of life and death. A woman even died in Germany from delayed treatment after hackers penetrated the hospital’s computers. It was the first fatality from a ransomware attack.

Most of these attacks have similarities. They are often triggered at night or during weekends when the teams on call are less numerous. But let’s go back in time to know more about ransomware.

1/ Beware of Ransomware

In 2017, nearly 130,000 people in more than 100 countries were victims of a massive worldwide ransomware attack. The WannaCry cyberattack infected U.K. National Health System, Spanish Telcommunication company Telefonica, French Automaker Renault, German railway company Deutsche Bahn. The goal of the attack was to encrypt the target’s data pending payment of a ransom. This attack is one of the first to bring a new cyber threat to the forefront: ransomware.

What is a Ransomware?

During a ransomware attack, malware block access to your data and threaten to delete or disclose it unless you pay a ransom. Your content is…