This is John Batcher, conversation with Michael Sugdenov, the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy,

it's about Ransomware, criminal gangs.

Russians are mentioned in a recent attack in London.

Ransomware being directed at the health care system, the number

one target I learned from Michael in the United States, and a vast number of health care facilities

are not set up well defended or using legacy

software that is most vulnerable if you do not update your software.

Ransomware especially directed your software,

especially directed at rural hospitals who do not have the funds to maintain a staff of

cybersecurity.

Here's Michael Sugden reporting about rural hospitals especially. More of this later.

So there's the vulnerability is higher for rural hospitals often because these hospitals

are are not financially stable to begin with and then because of that they cannot afford strong

cyber security teams. So studies have shown that over half of all rural hospitals in the United States are running in the red.

They're at a profit loss by the end of the year.

And when it comes down to it, like I mentioned earlier, they are trying to at first hire, if they

get, if they have more money, they'll try to hire doctors, hire nurses, hire administrative

staff.

And they see cybersecurity as an afterthought.

And it's hard to blame these small hospitals.

But because of that, since they don't have cyber security staff

that's dedicated, they don't have IT teams, teams chief information security officers that makes

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