Healthcare Ransomware FAQ: What to Do When Your Systems Are Attacked
When ransomware hits a healthcare organisation, the pressure to make fast decisions is intense — patient safety is at risk, clinical systems are down, and you are receiving an extortion demand. Having clear answers to the most urgent questions before an incident occurs is one of the most valuable preparations any healthcare organisation can make.
60% of healthcare organisations that pay a ransomware demand do not fully recover their data — paying does not guarantee restoration.
Ransomware Response FAQ for Healthcare
Frequently Asked Questions
Should we pay the ransomware demand?
The NCSC and law enforcement strongly advise against paying ransomware demands. Payment does not guarantee data recovery, funds criminal organisations, and may mark you as a target for repeat attacks. The focus should be on incident containment, activating offline backups, and engaging your incident response support. Contact the NCSC's 24/7 incident management team (0300 020 0973) immediately.
Do we need to report a ransomware attack to the ICO?
Yes, if patient data has been (or may have been) accessed, encrypted, or exfiltrated — which in most ransomware attacks it has. Report to the ICO within 72 hours of becoming aware. Provide the information you have at the time and update the report as your investigation progresses. The ICO does not treat good-faith breach notifications as triggering enforcement — but failure to notify when required is an enforcement risk.
What are the immediate steps after a ransomware attack in healthcare?
Immediately: isolate affected systems from the network (do not power off — preserve forensic evidence); activate your clinical downtime procedures to maintain patient safety; contact the NCSC; notify your SIRO and invoke your incident response plan; engage your incident response retainer provider if you have one; and begin the ICO notification assessment. Do not communicate with attackers using your own email systems. Do not pay any demand without legal and law enforcement advice.
How long will it take to recover from a ransomware attack?
Recovery time depends on the scope of the attack, the quality of your backups, and the complexity of your clinical IT environment. In well-prepared organisations with tested offline backups, core clinical systems can be restored within days. In the worst cases (such as Synnovis 2024), full recovery can take months. The most important factor is having tested, offline, application-consistent backups of all critical clinical systems — and having rehearsed the recovery sequence before an incident occurs.
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