Why French hospitals are easy prey for cybercriminals

A shutdown hospital, rescheduled operations, information on patients in the wild… The dreaded scenario is once again becoming reality, as the Center hospitalier Sud Francilien (CHSF) in Corbeil-Essonnes experiences its fifth day of blockage , victim of a hack and a ransom demand of 10 million dollars. Is it so easy to carry out a cyberattack targeting a hospital?

“We must forget the received ideas about cybercriminals, the image of the little hacker in a hoodie in his cellar. We are dealing with groups of cybercriminals organized like corporations”, warns John Fokker, in charge of cyber investigations at Trellix, a cybersecurity specialist. Teams dedicated to the development of malicious software (malware or ransomware, as the case may be), while others take care of the financial aspect of the transaction – it is necessary to collect the funds and launder them -, marketing, communication with targets…