Cybersecurity: Attacks on Healthcare Sector Reach New High

According to Comparitech’s Q3 Healthcare Ransomware Roundup, the healthcare sector remains a prime – and growing – target for ransomware attacks. This excerpt lays out the details:

In Q3 2026, ransomware attacks on the healthcare sector reached a new high with an average of 3.33 attacks per day. Attacks rose by 40 percent when compared to Q2 2026 (rising from 219 to 306) and more than doubled from 151 to 306, when compared to the same period last year (Q3 2025).

192 of the 306 attacks noted in Q3 2026 were on hospitals, clinics, and other direct care providers. 114 were carried out on businesses operating within the healthcare sector, such as pharmaceutical/medical manufacturers, medical billing providers, and healthcare tech companies.

The increase in attacks over the last quarter was slightly higher for direct-care providers (up 42 percent) when compared to healthcare businesses (up 36 percent).

Of the healthcare businesses targeted, healthcare manufacturers remained a key target with 51 attacks throughout Q3 2026 – up 28 percent from Q2 2026 (40). But healthcare technology companies saw the biggest increase with a rise of 175 percent from eight attacks in Q2 2026 to 22 in Q3 2026.

The report provides data on the number of attacks, median ransom demands, and most prolific ransomware strains targeting healthcare providers and businesses. It also provides information on the five largest healthcare data breaches via ransomware, confirmed ransom payments, and ransomware attacks by country.