Hospital cyber-attacks: where the victims stand

When it comes to hospital cyber-attacks, our focus is on ensuring that the victims’ voices are heard and that they have the chance for the justice that they deserve.

The threat that hospitals are facing from cybercriminals is substantial. A large volume of the individual compensation claims that we take forward are for medical data breach incidents, and many of them stem from cybersecurity events.

The 2017 WannaCry incident was perhaps one of the biggest examples that showed just how much of a target the healthcare sector really is.

Why are hospitals under threat?

The threat of hospital cyber-attacks taking place is substantial for a number of reasons.

These include:

• The size of the sector and the fact that millions (most of the population of our nation) will have some form of records with a hospital;
• The nature of the service hospitals provide, in that any disruption could literally cost lives;
• The nature of the data that they store and process being particularly personal and sensitive;
• The reliance on older and more outdated systems together with funding constraints that mean some hospitals may be lacking in adequate cybersecurity protection.

Many hackers want to make money from their actions. With over 1,250 hospitals in the UK, catering for tens of millions of people, there is a monumental number of data subjects to target. As medical data is particularly personal and sensitive, people don’t want it to be exposed, which is attractive for hackers to then target hospitals for ransomware attacks.

All hackers need to do is target such data to either threaten release of it, or lock systems up, and hospitals will need to react quickly. They need to stop leaks occurring in order to avoid the damage to victims and the costs of the fallout, and they need to get back into systems quickly in order to provide services.

All it takes is for a hacker to set a modest ransomware amount and, in many cases, it may be quicker and easier (and perhaps even cheaper) to pay off a ransom than deal with the dangers of delays and the costs of a breach.

Can you claim for hospital cyber-attacks?

Some hospital cyber-attacks will inevitably lead to data being exposed. Victims whose medical information has been exposed or misused can be entitled to make a claim for compensation for any distress caused by the loss of control of personal and sensitive information.

Data breach compensation amounts for these kinds of cases can often be high as a result of the nature of the information that can be exposed. When looking to take a case forward, we recommend that you instruct an expert data compensation firm like us who specialise in serious data breach cases.

Some claims can attract awards of tens of thousands of pounds, but having the right legal team on board to be able to properly pursue a case is important. It can be the difference between getting the true justice that you deserve, or being left short-changed.

Advice and No Win, No Fee agreements

You can speak to our team for free, no-obligation advice about your options for starting a case today.

If we think that we can succeed with a legal case, we may also be able to offer you our No Win, No Fee representation.

As huge believers in access to justice, we wouldn’t want you having to pay legal fees if a case is lost, which is why we can offer No Win, No Fee terms.

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