Healthcare is not most-targeted sector for ransomware

Staff -

While ransomware has been pervasive in the healthcare industry, a new report indicates it isn't the most-targeted sector.

A report from BitSight found education is the sector with the highest rate of ransomware attacks, with three times the rate of ransomware found in healthcare.

According to BitSight's report, which analyzed security ratings of close to 20,000 companies, 13 percent of education corporate networks were infected with ransomware during the past year. Just 3.5 percent of healthcare networks were. The government was the second most-targeted sector, with 5.9 percent of networks being infected with malware.

The finance industry appears to be the most secure, with just 1.5 percent of companies having ransomware on their corporate networks last year.

A Forbes report discussing the BitSight findings also indicates education is the only industry examined (education, energy/utilities, finance, government, healthcare and retail) in which cybersecurity protection declined.

"While several ransomware attacks on healthcare companies have made headlines this year, the issue is more widespread," said Stephen Boyer, co-founder and CTO of BitSight in a statement.

More articles on ransomware:

FBI urges ransomware victims to report attacks to federal law enforcement
Some hackers say hospitals are off-limits for ransomware attacks
Why cyberattacks aren't harming hospital finances

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