In a recent article, there is a review of a notable event that was related to the issue of cybersecurity of the US hospital chain that is among the largest ones. Universal Health Services faced a ransomware attack that led to several pressing problems (McMillan & Evans, 2020). Due to this attack, the corporation’s computers were crippled, which caused the cancelation of several surgeries, as well as diverting ambulances. The chain turned off its systems utilized for medical records, laboratories, and pharmacies at approximately 250 facilities in the United States to avert the upcoming outspread of the ransomware attack (McMillan & Evans, 2020). It should be noted that this outage did not result in harm to the patients, and Universal Health Services investigated all the reports related to the clients at risk. According to the officials, hackers were not able to access any patient or employee data (McMillan & Evans, 2020). Nevertheless, these officials refused to reveal the nature of the attack; several specialists claim that it was of a ransomware character.
According to McMillan & Evans (2020), “In a ransomware attack, hackers typically exploit computer vulnerabilities to install their software on a targeted computer network” (para. 4). Then, hackers encrypt valuable information, make it impossible to read, and promise to decrypt it for a ransom. Many representatives from various spheres claim that ransomware attacks have become a severe problem nowadays, causing harm to both privacy and finances of organizations (McMillan & Evans, 2020). Furthermore, McMillan & Evans (2020) cite Mark Barnes, “Under HIPAA, a malware attack that exposes patients’ personal health information could require hospitals to publicly disclose the breach” (para. 11). Hospitals are dependent on information technologies, utilizing medical records for the sake of convenience and smooth workflow. They are to fall under the related legislature and ready to face the issues presented in the piece of news. The letter also states that the ransomware attack influenced the educational sector. A hacker published students’ grades, Social Security numbers, and other private data as the officials declined to provide a ransom (McMillan & Evans, 2020). The article ends with the claims of stakeholders that the described attacks are of substantial danger.
It seems reasonable to state that the issue presented in the chosen article has a noticeable impact on today’s society. People have inevitably involved themselves in the dimension of instant data flows – starting from medical records and ending with social media. A plethora of pieces of personal information exists on specific data storage, secured by billions of codes. However, these codes are created by humans and thus have some vulnerabilities and flaws that may be used by a person with the necessary background. Given this fact, privacy faces the hazard of cyber-attacks, among which ransomware has become crucial as it is related to extortion and illegal enrichment. It should be admitted that there is no panacea in this regard – no universal security, and everyone’s personal information may be attacked at the moment. Although the specialized agencies seem to do their best to avert such issues, their major part of work, unfortunately, is devoted to dealing with the consequences of malware attacks.
Although I was lucky and have never been the victim of a ransomware attack, my closest friend (the name of whom I would not like to reveal) was involved in such a situation. He is working in the brunch of a recognized IT company that develops applications for mobile devices. This firm stores considerable amounts of data in the virtual dimension, and once, none of the employees could get access to it. After they realized what was likely to happen, a phone call with a cracked voice took place; the speaker demanded an enormous sum to decrypt the data. The company’s top management was forced to accept the conditions as there was much confidential information of respectful clients that the firm did not want to lose. Fortunately, the company was asked to pay only once to bring the access back. After the incident, it was significantly invested in the development of cyber-security.
Educational establishments possess private information of both students and employees to a great extent. It might be stated that both private and public organizations in this area pay much attention to the aspect of cyber-security as it is the only way to protect the privacy of stakeholders from attacks like the ransomware one. However, educators should dedicate their time to the issue as well. They have access to students’ grades, unique research projects, and other important information that should not be revealed without permission and, in turn, may be subject to a ransomware attack. Teachers and professors are to do their best to protect this data from malware attacks and get acquainted with the essentials of cyber-security.