Any surprise that Ransomware against healthcare and manufacturing is on the rise?

SCMagazine.com reported that “According to the Sophos State of Ransomware Report 2024 (https://www.sophos.com/en-us/content/state-of-ransomware), while most industries reported a decline in ransomware attacks, healthcare and manufacturing stood out as notable exceptions.”  The May 30, 2024 report entitled “Ransomware against healthcare and manufacturing on the rise: What to know, how to respond” (https://tinyurl.com/yc2bjfnv) included these comments:

 State and local governments reported a drop in ransomware occurrences from 69% of respondents to 34%. Retail businesses experienced a drop of 60% of organizations having reported being hit by ransomware, down to 45% year over year. Other market segments that reported drops include business and professional services. However, a few verticals bucked that trend.

IT, technology, and telecoms witnessed the number of organizations impacted by ransomware rise from 50% to 55%, and financial services barely edged up from 64% to 65%.

However, with only 56% having been hit by ransomware in the previous year and 65% reporting a ransomware attack this year, manufacturing and production sustained a significant increase. Healthcare also experienced a dramatic increase from 60% reporting being hit by ransomware in the 2023 report to 67% this year.

This year has also witnessed several devastating attacks on healthcare organizations. Earlier this month, the news broke that several Ascension network hospitals were forced to shut down their systems and revert to manual charts and care delivery processes. According to the Detroit Free Press, medical staff reported losing access to medical records and the ability to place orders.

No surprise here, but bad news for all!