Lawmaker: 98 of 109 Medical Cyber Incidents Were Ransomware
Government data released by a South Korean lawmaker shows ransomware accounted for 89.9% of reported cyber incidents at medical institutions since 2021.
A South Korean lawmaker released government data showing that ransomware accounted for 98 of the 109 cyber incidents reported at domestic medical institutions between 2021 and August 2026, or 89.9% of the total. The data was reported by dailysecu.com.
The same data shows 16 incidents reported in the first eight months of 2026, already exceeding the 11 incidents recorded for all of 2025.
According to the data, ransomware attacks in January 2026 on Gangwon National University Hospital and Chonnam National University Hospital caused failures in their medical image storage and transmission systems (PACS). At one of the hospitals, some medical services were suspended for about 4 hours and 50 minutes, from 5:30 AM to 10:20 AM.
Gangwon National University Hospital was reportedly demanded several hundred million won worth of Bitcoin by the attackers. Patient and staff information from Chonnam National University Hospital was later found to have been leaked on the dark web, according to the data.
The background figures show a peak in reported incidents earlier in the period: 22 in 2021, 23 in 2022, 23 in 2023, 14 in 2024 and 11 in 2025.
A 2025 survey by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs covering 41 tertiary hospitals and 222 general hospitals found that 44 of 263 institutions (16.7%) had no information security budget. The average security budget was 826.6 million won for tertiary hospitals versus 58.7 million won for general hospitals. Of the institutions surveyed, 113 (43%) did not conduct security monitoring, and 208 (79.1%) reported insufficient security personnel.
Hur Jong-sik said medical institution security is directly linked to patient safety and called for a full inspection of security conditions and a response and recovery system.
Quick answers
How many cyber incidents at South Korean medical institutions were ransomware?
98 of 109 reported incidents, or 89.9%, were ransomware attacks, according to government data released by a South Korean lawmaker.
How many cyber incidents were reported at South Korean medical institutions in 2026?
16 incidents were reported in the first eight months of 2026, exceeding the full-year 2025 figure of 11.
What happened to Gangwon National University Hospital and Chonnam National University Hospital?
Ransomware attacks in January 2026 caused PACS failures. At one hospital, some services were suspended for about 4 hours and 50 minutes. Gangwon National University Hospital was reportedly demanded several hundred million won worth of Bitcoin, and patient and staff information from Chonnam National University Hospital was later found leaked on the dark web.