According to a recent article in HealthCare IT News, "Ransomware 2.0: It's Coming, and Healthcare Needs to get Prepared", the next wave of ransomware may be much harder to spot, -- and patch.
They said: "The next wave of attacks will likely include targeting the Internet of Things which may very well include medical devices utilizing IoT." Security researchers are now speculating what the next generation of ransomware, "Ransomware 2.0" will look like.
As the IoT (Internet of Things) become more popular, and embedded in medical devices, the exposure to malware threats and the endpoint exposure will increase.
That also means that healthcare IT administrators may not have direct access to an embedded IoT medical device nor the ability to immediately stop a threat in its tracks. More alarming is the possibility that if malware attacks an IoT medical device, the manufacturer would likely have to release a patch and slip stream it to its clients.
As Healthcare IT News notes, ransomware attacks are typically delivered in a shotgun "spray and pray" approach. The bad guys predictably going after low-hanging fruit: your employees. According to a new study commissioned by MalwareBytes, "The Second State of Ransomware Report: US Survey Results", over 38% of US organizations have experienced a ransomware attack over the last 12 months with 80% of those attacks initiated through phishing.
To further complicate matters the next gen of ransomware is thought to likely be a hybrid of a worm combined with a ransomware attack with the worm rapidly spreading and infecting the entire IT network. The only way to stay on top of this is by through awareness and preparation. Building a human firewall is a must-do security control today, because phishing attacks continue to make it through all filters.
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