Coronavirus 5r2t6q Red Cross Urges Halt to Cyber-Attacks on Healthcare Sector Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Such attacks endanger human lives and governments must take "immediate and decisive action" to stop them, the Red Cross letter stated. 4l571y

By Reuters | Updated: 26 May 2020 14:03 IST

Coronavirus: Red Cross Urges Halt to Cyber-Attacks on Healthcare Sector Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Photo Credit: Reuters/ Charles Platiau x4f6c

The Red Cross hhas called for an end to cybercrimes against health institutions

Highlights

Red Cross calls for end to cyberattacks on healthcare, medical facilities
The letter was initiated by an NGO called CyberPeace
The letter has 42 signatories

ment

The Red Cross called for an end to cyber-attacks on healthcare and medical research facilities during the coronavirus pandemic, in a letter published Tuesday and signed by a group of political and business figures.

Such attacks endanger human lives and governments must take "immediate and decisive action" to stop them, the letter stated.

"We are hoping that the world's governments will step up to affirm their commitments to the international rules that prohibit such actions," said Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, in the letter.

Microsoft President Brad Smith and former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright are among the 42 co-signers of the letter initiated by the non-government CyberPeace Institute whose mission is to prevent the internet from becoming "weaponised."

The demand comes one month after the Czech Republic said its healthcare sector had come under digital attack, which prompted a fiery response from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. In a statement, Pompeo called the attack "deeply irresponsible and dangerous," adding that the culprits should "expect consequences." The Czech Republic and US government have yet to say who was to blame.

Over the last several months cybercriminals have targeted hospitals with computer viruses, usually in schemes to extort them or hold their data ransom. More sophisticated hacking groups, such as those associated with governments, have also targeted medical research centres to steal valuable data about COVID-19 treatments.

© Thomson Reuters 2020

Is Redmi Note 9 Pro Max the best affordable camera phone in India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, the episode, or just hit the play button below.

Comments

For the latest reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.