Dental Compliance Institute Offers Guide to Surviving Ransomware

The DCI guide, 5 Ways to Survive a Ransomware Attack, offers advice for practices to avoid and prevent ransomware attacks targeting patient data.

The Dental Compliance Institute (DCI), a provider of compliance training and certification programs for dental professionals, has published a survival guide for ransomware attacks.

The guide, 5 Ways to Survive a Ransomware Attack, is the second in a series that examines crucial regulatory topics like OSHA, HIPAA, and dental risk management.

“The best way to survive a ransomware attack is to prevent one in the first place,” said Linda Harvey, MS, RDH, DCI founder. “That’s why our latest survival guide is focused on explaining how practice owners can effectively minimize the risk of a crippling ransomware attack.”

5 Ways to Survive a Ransomware Attack explains why the dental industry needs to be concerned about the state of ransomware and the liability of private practices and DSOs who become victims of ransomware attacks.

The guide also provides best practices advice by outlining 5 steps to prevent ransomware attacks.

According to DCI, patient health information is worth more on the dark web than financial information.

“The estimated cost of a patient record on the dark web varies from as low as $250 to as much as $1,000 per record,” said Harvey.

For multi-location group practices or DSOs, the risk and repercussions of a ransomware attack are magnified. According to DCI, in the Spring of 2021, several breached email accounts with a multi-state dental administrative services provider impacted over 125,000 patients in 10 states.