Security News > 2020 > December > As Hospitals Cope With a COVID-19 Surge, Cyber Threats Loom
Administrators scrambled to keep the hospital operational - cancelling non-urgent appointments, reverting to pen-and-paper record keeping and rerouting some critical care patients to nearby hospitals.
The Vermont hospital had fallen prey to a cyberattack, becoming one of the most recent and visible examples of a wave of digital assaults taking U.S. health care providers hostage as COVID-19 cases surge nationwide.
In September, for example, a ransomware attack paralyzed a chain of more than 250 U.S. hospitals and clinics.
Over the course of 2020, many hospitals postponed technology upgrades or cybersecurity training that would help protect them from the newest wave of attacks, said health care security consultant Nick Culbertson.
It's part of why cybercriminals have focused their attention on health care organizations - especially now, as hospitals across the country are coping with a surge of COVID-19 patients, he said.