Hospitals and other healthcare organizations around the globe are under immense pressure as they test and care for patients with COVID-19. They are also under siege by cyber attackers.

This month, Interpol released a warning to hospitals and other medical organizations saying they are seeing increasing targeted ransomware attacks aimed at these entities.

While cybersecurity is traditionally considered an IT issue, it is also a patient safety issue. Ransomware and other “disruptionware” attacks are especially dangerous for healthcare organizations at this time because the tolerance for downtime is lower than ever. If systems were to be held for ransom and prevented from functioning, it could literally become a matter of life and death.