The Center for Internet Security unveils free ransomware protection service for private hospitals

Ransomware has emerged as the largest cyber threat facing hospitals since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Center for Internet Security (CIS) is unveiling a no-cost ransomware protection service, Malicious Domain Blocking and Reporting (MDBR), for private hospitals in the U.S. today. CIS is fully funding this service for all private hospitals in the U.S. as part of its nonprofit mission to make the connected world a safer place.

Fully funding for free

The service is already available for all public hospitals, health departments, and healthcare organizations through the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC). MS-ISAC funding for public hospitals is provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

Ed Mattison, Executive Vice President of CIS Operations and Security Services, said,

“The CIS Board of Directors prioritized making MDBR service available to all public and private U.S. hospitals at no cost, through both the MS-ISAC for public hospitals and a $1 million investment of CIS funds for private hospitals this year. CIS is fully funding this for private hospitals at no cost, and with no strings attached because it’s the right thing to do and no one else is doing it at scale.”

The MDBR service is being offered from CIS with the support of technology partner Akamai. The service leverages Akamai’s Enterprise Threat Protector edge security service which proactively blocks network requests from an organization to known harmful web domains, helping limit infections related to known malware, ransomware, phishing, and other cyber threats.