Concerns over how easily hospitals are hacked in Germany: 43 successful attacks recorded in 2020

The cybercriminals are increasingly entering the computer networks of the hospitals and other institutions in Germany, according to a German Sunday report Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. In fact, in mid-September of this year a death was recorded following an attack on a health system in Düsseldorf which resulted in one death.

According to reports, the German government recorded 43 successful attacks on healthcare providers until early November 2020, more than double that of last year.

The data comes from a federal government response to a request for information from the German Liberal Party (FDP) faction, which the newspaper quotes.

Next, cybercriminals try to encrypt data clinics and other institutions and then ask for money for unlocking.

Not only hospitals are affected by hacker attacks, but also electricity and water providers, banks and insurance companies and other organizations.

According to the newspaper, Until early November, a total of 171 successful attacks were counted against the so-called critical infrastructure installations. Last year the number was 121, the year before 62.

“There are waves of attacks in specific areas from time to time. During the coronavirus pandemic the number of attacks on hospitals has also increasedIsabel Münch, expert in critical infrastructure at the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), told the newspaper.

“Hospitals are catching up on IT security, but all is not where it should be. At least 15 percent of IT investment is expected go to their security and cybersecurity ”.

The coronavirus, the absolute protagonist of ransomware in 2020

the coronavirus

The cybersecurity firm has released its latest Quarterly Threat Report, which examines malware-related cybercrime activity and the evolution of cyber threats in Q2 2020.

Covid-19 was one of the protagonists of the global cybersecurity panorama between the months of April and June. Cybercriminals have adapted their attack campaigns to the pandemic, which has 605% growth in cyber attacks related to the novel coronavirus compared to the first trimester.

The cybersecurity company observed on average 419 new threats per minute in Q2 2020, an increase of 11.5% compared to the first quarter, although, for example, the growth of “ransomware” has remained constant compared to previous data.

Cloud user accounts were at the center of cybercriminals, and McAfee observed nearly 7.5 million external attacks on these accounts. This data is based on aggregation and anonymization of cloud usage data from over 30 million McAfee MVISION users worldwide in the second quarter of 2020.

Services affected by these threats include companies across all major industries, from financial services to health, public sector, education, retail, technology, manufacturing, energy, services, legal sector, real estate sector, transport and business services.

Everything that hacker ethics prohibits, strictly speaking, hacking.