Currently, while the whole world is struggling to fight against the coronavirus epidemic, cyberattacks have increased in numbers, targeting health departments like hospitals, research centers, and WHO. According to Reuters, "the Red Cross called for an end to cyberattacks on healthcare and medical research facilities during the coronavirus pandemic, in a letter published Tuesday and signed by a group of political and business figures."
Due to this, a group of 42 top world leaders have come together and requested the Government to take some immediate actions on the increasing attacks against the healthcare institutions. Among the members, there is Madeleine Albright, ex U.S Secretary of State and Brad Smith, president, Microsoft. Peter Maurer, President of International Red Cross Society, says the Government should take some swift measures and step-up to stop these attacks. He hopes that the Government is willing to commit to international obligations to prevent these attacks. He has asked for international cooperation from various health departments to combat this problem. It can be a severe problem for war-stricken countries where the conditions of healthcare departments are already deteriorating, and these cyberattacks will make things even worse.
The various leaders have asked the Government to work side by side with civil society. It comes after the news of cyberattacks on healthcare institutes came out. Ransomware was one of the attacks, that jammed the computers and infected the healthcare systems. It affected the healthcare institutes' functioning, like treating the patients, research, and various tests. Last month, incidents of the cyberattack on health institutes were reported by the Czech Republic government. Another event appeared where the DarkHotel hacking group attacked WHO.
News of various countries reporting attacks on healthcare systems also emerged, where the records of COVID-19 patients were stolen along with lab tests data. "Over the last several months, cybercriminals have targeted hospitals with computer viruses, usually in schemes to extort or hold their data ransom. More sophisticated hacking groups, such as those associated with governments, have also targeted medical research centers to steal valuable data about COVID-19 treatments," reports Reuters on its website.
