Earlier this week, Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles paid $17,000 in Bitcoins to hackers in exchange for patient data and function of the computer systems, which the hackers had seized earlier this month.
“The assault on Hollywood Presbyterian occurred Feb. 5,” the Los Angeles Times reports, “when hackers using malware infected the institution’s computers, preventing hospital staff from being able to communicate from those devices.”
Hopsital CEO Allen Stefanek has claimed there’s no evidence patient data was compromised.
Research shows just how damaging these breaches can be, not just for the patients themselves, but also on hospitals’ credibility—and their wallets.
According to data supplied by the Ponemon Institute, 80 percent of responding medical institutions reported a diminishment in their reputation following a hack, while 24 percent reported a loss of revenues.
Since 2010, there have been hacks compromising patient records on 158 medical institutions, including hospitals and insurers, according to the Times.
