Ransomware | Data Extortion Pivot

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Executive Snapshot Your encryption defenses are winning the wrong battle. Extortion-only ransomware attacks in healthcare have tripled to 12%, with attackers now bypassing encryption entirely to steal and weaponize sensitive patient data without triggering your recovery playbooks.

Signal Attackers are abandoning encryption for pure data theft, rendering backup-centric defenses irrelevant while exploiting the unique extortion leverage of medical records.

Strategic Implication Your ransomware response plan assumes encrypted systems. Adversaries now exfiltrate and vanish without touching your infrastructure, leaving you with no incident to recover from and maximum exposure.

Action Audit data loss prevention controls and egress monitoring across clinical systems today. Revoke excessive data access privileges for administrative and third-party accounts now. Reinforce network segmentation between patient data repositories and internet-facing endpoints this week.