Fears of hackers targeting US hospitals, medical devices for cyber attacks

Cyber security experts are rushing to analyze the new ransomware known by some as “Petya” that quickly spread to countries around the world Tuesday, including the United States, with hackers holding computers hostage for ransom payouts.

Among the U.S. computers affected in the Petya attack were hospital computers, and experts are warning that not only is the ransomware problem getting worse, but hospital computers and medical devices are potentially vulnerable to hacking.

Last month, a worldwide cyberattack by a ransomware called WannaCry shut down 65 hospitals in the United Kingdom, and affected not just computers but storage refrigerators and MRI machines. Last January, Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital in Los Angeles paid out $17,000 after hackers took control of its computers.

To combat this problem, doctors, security experts and government employees recently converged at the University of Arizona Medical School in Phoenix to witness the first-ever simulated hack of a hospital.

Read the full article at ABC News.