A Death Due to Ransomware

guest · Oct 1, 2021

A Death Due to Ransomware
October 1, 2021
https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2021/10/a-death-due-to-ransomware.html

The Wall Street Journal is reporting on a baby’s death at an Alabama hospital in 2019, which they argue was a direct result of the ransomware attack the hospital was undergoing.

[The mother] Ms. Kidd has sued Springhill [Medical Center], alleging information about the baby’s condition never made it to Dr. Parnell because the hack wiped away the extra layer of scrutiny the heart rate monitor would have received at the nurses’ station. If proven in court, the case will mark the first confirmed death from a ransomware attack.
What will be interesting to see is whether the courts rule that the hospital was negligent in its security, contributing to the success of the ransomware and by extension the death of the infant.
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Springhill declined to name the hackers, but Allan Liska, a senior intelligence analyst at Recorded Future, said it was likely the Russianbased Ryuk gang, which was singling out hospitals at the time.

They’re certainly never going to be held accountable.
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Another article.
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guest · Oct 1, 2021

Lawsuit: Hospital's Ransomware Attack Led to Baby's Death
Suit Alleges Inability to Access Critical Fetal Monitoring Data Was Malpractice
October 1, 2021
https://www.databreachtoday.com/lawsuit-hospitals-ransomware-attack-led-to-babys-death-a-17663

The death of a baby born with complications during a 2019 ransomware attack on a Mobile, Alabama hospital - one that left clinicians unable to access electronic health records and patient monitoring systems- is intensifying the spotlight on the potentially fatal consequences of such cyber incidents.

The medical malpractice lawsuit, potentially the first in the U.S. alleging a death tied to a hospital ransomware attack, is a stark example of what some experts have been fearfully warning about in recent months.
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CISA Findings
On Friday, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a report examining the impact of ransomware and other cyberattacks on the healthcare sector entities during the pandemic.
The findings are a forewarning for the healthcare sector, CISA notes.

"As the U.S. enters the next phase of the pandemic, the nation’s capacity to provide medical care is facing unprecedented levels of strain," says Joshua Corman, senior adviser for the healthcare sector at CISA, in a statement provided to Information Security Media Group.
CISA's analysis shows how the strain hospitals are under affects patient care and outcomes, and cyberthreats can make those strains measurably worse, he says.
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"We are in the top of the first inning as it relates to ransomware attacks in healthcare" says Ed Gaudet, CEO of Censinet.

"As an industry, we must continue to have the courage to ask the hard questions about the impact to care and mortality rates, provide the right level of regulatory oversight, and drive investments to eradicate ransomware from healthcare."
Case Details
The lawsuit against Springhill Medical Center and one of its physicians was filed in a Mobile County circuit court by the baby's mother, Teiranni Kidd, in January 2020 and was updated in April 2020 - after the child died, allegedly from her birth complications. The case is slated for trial in November 2022.
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Springhill Medical Center failed "to reveal the true facts related to the cyberattack and its effect on the hospital's ability to provide patient services for the benefit of the hospital and to the detriment of [Kidd and her baby] and the general public," the lawsuit claims.

"Organizations have become so used to IT fixing things or getting things back up and running in short order that they don’t really plan for complete loss, or long-term loss, or corruption of systems, services or data."
—Mac McMillan, CynergisTek
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