As HIMSS gets underway, the healthcare IT world is still shaking from last month’s audacious privacy breach at a California hospital. Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital paid a $17,000 ransom to a criminal enterprise that broke into the hospital’s system, encrypted data, and demanded an even larger payment.
While the concept of “ransomware” is not new, the very public ransom payment by Hollywood Presbyterian once again ratchets up the pressure in healthcare executive suites and boardrooms to do something different, and soon, to protect healthcare’s digital assets.
