Since SARS-CoV-2 emerged, ransomware attacks surged in 2020 against U.S. hospitals and healthcare providers. A leading cybersecurity firm's report confirms this alarming trend, now affecting nations like Germany and France.
In November 2020, the FBI and CISA issued an urgent alert urging vigilance against ransomware. The Russian Trickbot botnet was linked to attacks targeting dozens of U.S. hospitals. This malware encrypts devices and data, holding them hostage until a ransom is paid for the decryption key.
Nearly a year into the pandemic, the FBI warned of a heightened cybercrime threat looming over hospitals and providers. Info Security Magazine highlighted this in January 2021, citing Check Point's report that ransomware incidents in healthcare doubled in the final two months of 2020.
Check Point experts flagged DDoS attacks but emphasized widespread ransomware deployment, including Sodinokibi and Ryuk strains. Ransom demands escalated dramatically—from an average of $5,000 in 2018 to $200,000 in 2020. Beyond ethical concerns, this demands international collaboration as the threat spans borders.
In September 2020, Germany's University Clinic in Düsseldorf suffered a ransomware breach, crippling systems and forcing a patient's transfer—tragically, they died en route.
France faced similar woes: a tough 2020 extended into 2021, with Dax (Landes) and Villefranche-sur-Saône (Rhône) hospitals hit in February. Care shifted to emergency protocols amid outages, with critical patient records lost.
