On November 8, the World Health Organization (WHO) and representatives from more than 50 countries issued a joint warning at the United Nations about the increase in ransomware attacks targeting hospitals globally.
Ransomware is a form of cyber attack that targets victims' data - from individuals, companies to important organizations, in which hackers encrypt data and demand ransom to restore it.
According to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, these attacks, when aimed at hospitals, can have serious consequences for human life.
“Surveys show that attacks on health care facilities have increased in both scale and frequency,” Tedros Ghebreyesus said at a US-initiated meeting of the UN Security Council, stressing the importance of international cooperation to tackle the problem.
The joint statement signed by more than 50 countries, including South Korea, Japan, Argentina, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, warned that these attacks not only threaten public security but also cause economic damage and threaten international peace and security.
Ransomeware is not only a technical problem, but also a humanitarian one as these malicious attacks disrupt essential healthcare, putting patients at risk.
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