The year of 2020, 560 healthcare providers fell victim to ransom during COVID-19 response. As we know this has been a very stressful year for health care workers due to the COVID-19 virus. They simply cannot afford to waste time and money on ransom. Already on record, there has been a death of a patient following a ransomware attack on a hospital in Duesseldorf. The patient, identified only as a woman who needed urgent medical care, died after being re-routed to a hospital in the city of Wuppertal, more than 30 km away from her initial intended destination, the Duesseldorf University Hospital


What to look for?

Ransomware can infect your devices in the same way as other malware or a virus. For example:

visiting unsafe or suspicious websites
opening emails or files from unknown sources
clicking on malicious links in email or on social media.
Common signs you may be a victim of ransomware include:

pop-up messages requesting funds or payment to unlock files.
you cannot access your devices, or your login doesn’t work for unknown reasons.
files request a password or a code to open or access them.
files have moved or are not in their usual folders or locations.
files have unusual file extensions, or their names or icons have changed to something strange.
If any of these things happen to you, check with your friends and colleagues first to see if they made any changes

Different times of ransom

CryptoLocker, a 2013 attack, launched the modern ransomware age and infected up to 500,000 machines at its height.
TeslaCrypt targeted gaming files and saw constant improvement during its reign of terror.
SimpleLocker was the first widespread ransomware attack that focused on mobile devices
WannaCry spread autonomously from computer to computer using EternalBlue, an exploit developed by the NSA and then stolen by hackers.
NotPetya also used EternalBlue and may have been part of a Russian-directed cyberattack against Ukraine.
Locky started spreading in 2016 and was "similar in its mode of attack to the notorious banking software Dridex." A variant, Osiris, was spread through phishing campaigns.
Leatherlocker was first discovered in 2017 in two Android applications: Booster & Cleaner and Wallpaper Blur HD. Rather than encrypt files, it locks the home screen to prevent access to data.
Wysiwye, also discovered in 2017, scans the web for open Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) servers. It then tries to steal RDP credentials to spread across the network.
Cerber proved very effective when it first appeared in 2016, netting attackers $200,000 in July of that year. It took advantage of a Microsoft vulnerability to infect networks.
BadRabbit spread across media companies in Eastern Europe and Asia in 2017.
SamSam has been around since 2015 and targeted primarily healthcare organizations.
Ryuk first appeared in 2018 and is used in targeted attacks against vulnerable organizations such as hospitals. It is often used in combination with other malware like TrickBot.
Maze is a relatively new ransomware group known for releasing stolen data to the public if the victim does not pay to decrypt it.
RobbinHood is another EternalBlue variant that brought the city of Baltimore, Maryland, to its knees in 2019.
GandCrab might be the most lucrative ransomware ever. Its developers, which sold the program to cybercriminals, claim more then $2 billion in victim payouts as of July 2019.
Sodinokibi targets Microsoft Windows systems and encrypts all files except configuration files. It is related to GandCrab
Thanos is the newest ransomware on this list, discovered in January 2020. It is sold as ransomware as a service, It is the first to use the RIPlace technique, which can bypass most anti-ransomware methods.


https://www.csoonline.com/article/3236183/what-is-ransomware-how-it-works-and-how-to-remove-it.html

How hackers get a hold of your data

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/internet-security-101-six-ways-hackers-can-attack-you-and-how-to-stay-safe/articleshow/61342742.cms?from=mdr

Ransomware the complete guide
https://www.backblaze.com/blog/complete-guide-ransomware/
1)https://www.wired.com/story/a-patient-dies-after-a-ransomware-attack-hits-a-hospital/

2)https://www.zdnet.com/article/first-death-reported-following-a-ransomware-attack-on-a-german-hospital/

3)https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/17/21443851/death-ransomware-attack-hospital-germany-cybersecurity

4) https://www.hl7.org/

5) https://www.cyber.gov.au/acsc/view-all-content/advisories/2020-013-ransomware-targeting-australian-aged-care-and-healthcare-sectors

6) https://www.csoonline.com/article/3236183/what-is-ransomware-how-it-works-and-how-to-remove-it.html

7) https://www.cyber.gov.au/ransomware