Shook Partner Quoted in Wall Street Journal on Cyberattacks

Shook’s Chair of Privacy and Data Security Practice Al Saikali was quoted in The Wall Street Journal article “Cyberattacks Cost Hospitals Millions During COVID-19.” The article reports on ransomware attacks targeting hospitals just as the pandemic is taking its biggest toll in hospital admissions. The pressure to restore medical records and other data needed to treat patients make health care companies in general more vulnerable to complying with hackers’ demands. This and the fallout from publicity around the events lead companies to avoid full disclosure. 

“Many publicly traded companies don’t disclose these incidents in their public filings,” Saikali said. 

The targeting of Universal Health by ransomware demands was detailed as an example of the data security issues the health care industry currently faces.