Impact Factor (2025): 6.9
DOI Prefix: 10.47001/IRJIET
Security is
essentially a consideration in any computer system which holds sensitive or
critical data. Ransomware attacks which are primarily based on encrypting
critical data and demanding for a ransom to decrypt them, is one of the best
approaches in harvesting money from critical industrial firms rather than
damaging the information infrastructure. Even though general ransomware
practices include encrypting critical data, sometimes it can come in a form of
a threat to leaking of sensitive data to the public. Among the critical
infrastructures in the healthcare industry, patient’s Personally Identifiable
Information (PII) and also the operational data related to mission critical
systems are the top concerns. Leaking of PII can cause a huge damage to the privacy
of the patients who obtain the healthcare service for that particular
healthcare provider. On the other hand, any system delays, malfunctions of
inaccessibility or unavailability of operational data related to mission
critical systems can cause hindrances to the usual operations of the healthcare
provider and eventually will case a life-threatening situation to the patients
as well. Through this research review, a comprehensive understanding to the
topics; what is ransomware, why ransomware target health industry, what is the
damage caused, new ransomware attack trends, mitigative steps and future
research scopes are presented to the audience. At the end of the paper, overall
conclusion made by analyzing reported incidents is presented with recommendation
to mitigate the effects of future ransomware threats, targeted on healthcare
industry.
Country : Sri Lanka
IRJIET, Volume 8, Issue 1, January 2024 pp. 158-167