Research topic for approval

Healthcare's Vulnerability to Ransomware Attacks

Research question: To what extent is the healthcare system vulnerable to ransomware attacks?

This research aims to explain how the healthcare sector can become vulnerable to ransomware attacks. It will also discuss how the ransomware topic can influence practice. Methods and relevance for computer nursing to secure health information technology will be reviewed. Ransomware is a cyber-attack form that can damage a company and its IT infrastructure. A ransomware attack is a criminal cyber-attack using malware or software that blackmails a company to gain a money lift from its systems (Slayton, 2018). The software can delete personal data from computer systems except when a payment is made, and the cyber attacker provides the decryption key for unlocking the system. Many types of ransomware are available, and Intel Corp's McAfee Labs predict that these attacks will continue and their prevalence will increase. Comment by Mary Lind: nursing makes no sense here Comment by Mary Lind: what do you mean by form? Comment by Mary Lind: what is a money lift? Comment by Mary Lind: what software - the ransomware can delete anythign

This study examines the motivation of healthcare professionals to use theoretical protection theory (PMT) and deterrence theory to adopt security measures against ransomware attacks in a hospital setting (Rogers, 1975). These include perceived severe threats and perceived fear-mediated vulnerability. Misfitting rewards and reaction costs both have an important negative impact on motivation for protection. Effectiveness as a major coping factor is demonstrated. The results help to utilize fear and PMT in ransomware threats to influence protection motivation for healthcare devices. Comment by Mary Lind: for computers users in the hospital.

Target population

This research targets healthcare professionals, patients, and the general population because of the constant vulnerability of healthcare systems to ransomware attacks.

Methodology

In this research, we analyze the Healthcare's Vulnerability to Ransomware Attacks using quantitative research. Research involves healthcare professionals, patients, and the general population. The research will also review the safeguards that healthcare system users have implemented. Data will be analyzed via the Variance Analysis (ANOVA) various hypotheses that arise in the course of the research.

Findings

This makes the medical industry extremely sensitive to this criminal cyber-attack like ransomware due to advances in technology and extensive use of electronic medical documents. Many hospitals, such as Erie County Medical Center, have recently been affected by ransomware (ECMC). In April 2017, ECMC was affected by a ranking attack that shut down its IT systems after refusing to pay $30,000 to unlock it. Following the attack, they were obliged to return to the paper charts and maintained power outage operations by introducing urgent plans. Ransomware usually aims at end-users with e-mails with malware-laid attachments to gain initial access to the network of the victims (Coventry & Branley, 2018). As hackers continue to take advantage of COVID-19, phishing attacks have grown 667%. Comment by Mary Lind: Ransomware makes the ....

Healthcare ransomware attacks can be controlled by consistently updating healthcare devices to keep the security uptight and devoid of vulnerabilities; this applies the deterrence theory to curb the effects of ransomware attacks (D'arcy & Herath, 2011). If a ransomware attack occurs, the results would be devasting because lives depend on it; therefore, the security responses should be in place with a proactive disaster response plan. The designers of ransomware also improve the complexity of such attacks as technical solutions are being developed. To deal with this problem, it is necessary to combine technical and behavioral measures. Self-efficacy, therefore, becomes a very significant factor in coping with healthcare ransomware attacks.

References

Coventry, L., & Branley, D. (2018). Cybersecurity in healthcare: a narrative review of trends, threats, and ways forward. Maturitas, 113, 48-52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2018.04.008

D'arcy, J., & Herath, T. (2011). A review and analysis of deterrence theory in the IS security literature: making sense of the disparate findings. European Journal of Information Systems, 20(6), 643-658.

Rogers, R. W. (1975). A protection motivation theory of fear appeals and attitude change1. The journal of psychology, 91(1), 93-114.

Slayton, T. B. (2018). Ransomware: The virus attacking the healthcare industry. Journal of Legal Medicine, 38(2), 287-311. https://doi.org/10.1080/01947648.2018.1473186