Part 12/16:

Supporting policies from cybersecurity experts advised against paying hackers, emphasizing that ransomware payments can encourage future attacks and often do not guarantee data recovery. As such, the hospital officials decided not to negotiate or pay the ransom.

Strategic Response and Institutional Measures

The hospital prioritized restoring critical systems by:

• Engaging professional cybersecurity firms to decrypt affected data.

• Restoring systems from backup where possible—though recent data was lost due to encryption.

• Implementing manual workflows to continue patient care using paper records.

• Notifying relevant health authorities and preparing for potential data leaks.