Statement delivered by Amb. Trishala Persaud, Deputy Permanent Representative of Guyana to the United Nations at the Security Council Briefing on 'Threats posed by Ransomware Attacks against hospitals, and other healthcare facilities and services'

Thank you, Mr. President,
At the outset, I thank WHO Director General Dr. Tedros and Mr. Conrado for their briefings.

Mr. President,
Recent statistics reveal startling increases in the frequency and scale of ransomware attacks worldwide. Attacks against critical infrastructure, particularly hospitals and healthcare facilities, are having serious ramifications for public health and national security. 
Risks of such attacks are increasing as more health systems globally are using digital transformation to enhance the clinical quality and cost-efficiency of their services.

With greater access to ransomware and the broadening of threat actors worldwide, we are seeing an increase in the scale of ransomware attacks against medical institutions, negatively impacting their operations and the provision of healthcare services, as well as, resulting in the theft of confidential data. In addition to disrupting the delivery of health services and the financial implications due to downtimes, ransomware attacks have in some instances resulted in the loss of lives where the delivery of urgent medical treatment was compromised. 

Given its potentially debilitating effects on the stability of national health care systems, the development of robust frameworks to counter such attacks must be a priority. 

States must show greater urgency in adopting a proactive and holistic approach to addressing such attacks, recognising that it transcends borders, and that no country is immune. In this context, I highlight the following points.  

First, States must invest in capacity-building initiatives and develop incident response plans. Many developing countries lack the necessary resources and expertise to protect themselves from and combat cyber threats such as ransomware attacks. As such, building capacities in these countries is critical. 

This should include technical assistance, funding support, and training to enhance the response capability of vulnerable states, including in the development of incident response plans to deal effectively with these attacks.  

Second, given the growing magnitude and consequences of ransomware attacks, Guyana underscores the need to foster cooperation between and among States through knowledge sharing on best practices and challenges, information exchanges and technology transfers. In this regard, it is vital to establish an international information-sharing system that provides information to countries on how they can strengthen and protect their critical health infrastructure from being vulnerable to ransomware attacks so that they can be detected and addressed in time. Additionally, a global framework must be developed which caters for this type of intelligence sharing amongst States and relevant stakeholders on potential cyber threats. 

Thirdly, the perpetrators of ransomware attacks must be held accountable. Priority must be given to collaboration and partnerships to investigate and prosecute cybercrimes, inclusive of ransomware attacks across countries and regions. This should involve the dismantling of ransomware networks and monitoring of transactions suspected to be ransomware payments. The recently adopted United Nations Convention against Cybercrime contributes to this effort by providing regulatory and cooperation frameworks to address such crimes. Additionally, Guyana recognizes that international law is applicable to cyberspace.

Mr. President, 
Hospitals, healthcare facilities and services should be treated as sacred, and all efforts must be made to protect them from ransomware attacks. The international community must join forces to prevent all forms of cyber-attacks on critical national infrastructure. Guyana remains committed to global initiatives that seek to raise awareness of and address this threat and to ensure that it does not undermine international peace and security. 

I thank you.