New HIPAA Guidance on Ransomware Prevention and Recovery – Lexology

A U.S. government interagency report indicates that there has been a 300 percent increase in the daily ransomware attacks in 2016 as compared to 2015. Ransomware is malicious software that, when introduced into a system, gives a hacker access to the user’s system, and the ability to encrypt data and hold it hostage until payment is received. The data is decrypted only when a ransom, usually in the form of cryptocurrency (such as bitcoin) is paid. If and when it is decrypted, the original data is gone leaving only the data in encrypted form.

via New HIPAA Guidance on Ransomware Prevention and Recovery – Lexology.