Prior to beginning work on this assignment,
- Review Chapters 13 and 16 from your textbook.
- Read the article Healthcare Ransomware Attacks Increased by 94% in 2021Links to an external site..
- Watch the videos:
You are being interviewed today for a chief executive officer (CEO) position with a local hospital, Shady Valley Hospital Center. The hospital is a 500-bed comprehensive facility that offers medical and surgical programs such as emergency care, oncology, pediatrics, heart and vascular care, and orthopedics. The hospital is committed to bringing state-of-the-art healthcare services with a focus on diversity, equity, and quality of care for their patients. Over the past 5 years, the board of trustees understood the importance of being proactive regarding reducing or even eliminating ransomware attacks. The board of trustees invested in a 5-million-dollar upgrade to protect both employee and patient electronic information, specifically the hospitals EHRs system.
During the interview process the board of trustees presents you with a real-world scenario as follows:
The chief information officer (CIO) and the developer of the software company Ransom Detect informed you that the hospital experienced a ransomware attack overnight. All the hospital’s computer systems are shut down, and the patient’s EHR information and employee human resources (HR) information cannot be accessed. The attackers are demanding payment before they release the patient’s private health care information and employee HR information. To make matters worse or more urgent, the computer systems that are used to monitor patient vitals such as operating rooms, cardiac, emergency room, and neonatal care are non-functional. Additionally, the computer systems that are used to calculate medicine doses are not functioning properly and therefore causing fear among caregivers that patients could be inadvertently given 2, 3, or 4 times the proper dose of prescribed medicine. Lastly, it would appear that this recent cyberattack will delay patients from receiving surgical procedures for an undetermined length of time.
The board of trustees provides you a few moments to think about the issues. Cyber criminals expect their victims to pay the ransom. In your paper, address the following:
- Explain to the board of trustees what additional security step policies could/should be taken, if the organization should pay/or refuse to pay the ransom, and why.
- Describe what comes next; in other words, provide a detailed action plan that should take place after paying/or declining to pay the ransom.
- Define any ethical and legal consequences regarding paying or not paying the ransom that may occur.
- Describe who should be informed of the cyberattack (e.g., employees/staff, patients, the media, state/federal FBI agencies) and why.
- Analyze the pros and cons of considering cyber insurance for future attacks.
Lastly, based on your research and this week’s readings,
- Explain, from a legal perspective, whether the cyber attackers could be criminally liable for any harm or death that occurs during a ransomware attack.
- Be sure to validate your assertion with an analysis of a real-world court case regarding harm or death post ransomware attack in the last 5 years.
Your Healthcare Cybersecurity Response paper
- must be three to five double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according toAPA StyleLinks to an external site. as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA Formatting for Microsoft WordLinks to an external site. resource.
- must include a separate title page with the following:
- title of paper in bold font
- Space should appear between the title and the rest of the information on the title page.
- student’s name
- name of institution (The University of Arizona Global Campus)
- course name and number
- instructor’s name
- due date
- must utilize academic voice. See theAcademic VoiceLinks to an external site. resource for additional guidance.
- must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
- For assistance on writing Introductions & ConclusionsLinks to an external site. andWriting a Thesis StatementsLinks to an external site., refer to the Writing Center resources.
- must use at least three scholarly or peer-reviewed sources published in the past 5 years in addition to the course text.
- The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible SourcesLinks to an external site. table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source.