A new feature article in The Rural Monitor examines the increasing incidence of cyber-attacks on healthcare organizations and the particular vulnerability of rural providers. According to the Cybersecurity Program at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 60 percent of ransomware attacks – whereby bad actors gain entry to an organization’s online system and lock critical files until a ransom is paid – were aimed at healthcare systems in 2020. FORHP-supported research last year found that rural hospitals are less likely to be attacked, but staff are less equipped to handle them when they do happen, and rural residents who need these services have fewer alternatives for care.
