There has been a significant wave of ransomware attacks around the world recently. There is some disagreement as to whether phishing was used to start the infections; however there is agreement that one infected computer could rapidly infect other Windows computers on a network if those computers have not received an important security fix that Microsoft released in March.
Below are some questions to consider before opening an email to avoid infection from a phishing attack:
- Do you know the person who sent the email?
- Are you expecting a document from the person who sent the message?
- If you were not expecting a document from the sender, does that person normally send documents at unspecified intervals?
- Is the attachment a document type that you would expect from the sender?
- Is the subject or body of the message informative, vague, or odd?
CAP recommends downloading The Physicians Action Guide to Cyber Risk for specific steps that physicians can take to decrease the likelihood of a breach and protect patients' privacy.
We cannot give you advice on how to detect every disreputable website or email, just a reminder to be careful and tips to be prepared.
This information should not be considered legal advice applicable to a specific situation. Legal guidance for individual matters should be obtained from a trained attorney.