WHO chief warns of cyberattacks on health systems

The Manila Times

WHO chief warns of cyberattacks on health systems   In an address to the United Nations Security Council, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlights the escalating threat of ransomware attacks on healthcare facilities, warning that these cyberattacks go beyond financial disruption. "They can be issues of life and death," he cautions, calling for decisive international action to bolster cybersecurity protections and safeguard patients' lives and trust in health systems.  AFP VIDEO  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe  Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net    Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion    Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital  Sign up to our newsletters: https://tmt.ph/newsletters   Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein   #themanilatimes #worldnews  #cyber #health

Transcript

00:00Surveys have shown that attacks on the healthcare sector have increased in both scale and frequency.

00:08And this is because of the success the hackers got in attacking hospitals or health facilities.

00:17Let's be clear at the outset that ransomware and other cyberattacks on hospitals and other

00:23health facilities are not just issues of security and confidentiality.

00:30They can be issues of life and death.

00:35At best, these attacks cause disruption and financial loss.

00:40At worst, they undermine trust in the health system on which people depend and even cause

00:46patient harm and death.

00:49The digital transformation of health systems, the high value of health data, increasing

00:55demands on health systems, and resource constraints all contribute to making health facilities

01:01attractive targets to ransomware attacks.

01:06These attacks target the digital infrastructure of health facilities, disrupt or shut them

01:11down in order for access to be returned.

01:15The perpetrators demand a fee or ransom be paid.

01:21Cybercrime groups operate on the logic that the greater the threat to patient safety,

01:27confidentiality and service disruption they can create, the greater the ransom they can

01:33demand.

01:35If health facilities don't pay, the consequences are not simply financial and operational.

01:42They are potentially putting patients at risk.

01:45So to restore the system and retrieve the data quickly, health facilities are often

01:51willing to pay a substantial ransom.

01:55Even if there is no guarantee, data will be decrypted and attackers won't try again.

02:03And security.

02:05Cybercrime, including ransomware, pose a serious threat to international security.

02:11Just as you have used your mandate to adapt resolutions and decisions on matters of physical

02:16security, so we ask you to consider using that same mandate to strengthen global cybersecurity

02:24and accountability.

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Transcript

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