Two weeks ago, the WannaCry ransomware attack sent shockwaves throughout the corporate world, as hackers broke into supposedly secured systems and encrypted network data, demanding $300 in bitcoin to unlock it. While law firms and legal departments were among those hit, perhaps nowhere was the attack harder felt than the healthcare industry, where providers, particularly in the UK, were left scrambling after being locked out of patient data.
These days, healthcare data is among the most complicated areas of focus for legal professionals—and the most highly regulated. K. Randolph (Randy) Peak has seen these concerns firsthand. In the time he’s worked in the healthcare industry, at Ochsner Health System, VHA Inc., and Goodroe Healthcare Solutions, the amount of data dealt with by companies has exploded.
