Monthly reminder that I study today's global medical PANdemIC through the lens of many past computer virus panics. Click the "panic button" to read more!
twitter.com/i/events/12437…
twitter.com/i/events/12437…
1/18
Yesterday was #NickoSilar's birthday. Our industry spouts an #UrbanLegend that she died in a hospital #ransomware attack … yet the truth is a bit complicated for our collective reductionist beliefs.
Let's study the facts surrounding this baby's tragic death, shall we?
Yesterday was #NickoSilar's birthday. Our industry spouts an #UrbanLegend that she died in a hospital #ransomware attack … yet the truth is a bit complicated for our collective reductionist beliefs.
Let's study the facts surrounding this baby's tragic death, shall we?
2/18
First, I need to caveat my role in this sad affair. I offer my expertise pro bono to the law firm representing the attending physician who delivered #NickoSilar on that fateful day. My specific goal is to protect Dr. Parnell from Springhill Medical Center's legal team.
First, I need to caveat my role in this sad affair. I offer my expertise pro bono to the law firm representing the attending physician who delivered #NickoSilar on that fateful day. My specific goal is to protect Dr. Parnell from Springhill Medical Center's legal team.
3/18
I must admit it proved no easy task to pick Dr. Parnell over Nicko Silar's mother who, in truth, needs no expertise I can offer.
Maybe help Springhill Medical Center's CISO? Nope: SMC has already thrown Dr. Parnell under the bus to protect themselves & their CISO.
I must admit it proved no easy task to pick Dr. Parnell over Nicko Silar's mother who, in truth, needs no expertise I can offer.
Maybe help Springhill Medical Center's CISO? Nope: SMC has already thrown Dr. Parnell under the bus to protect themselves & their CISO.
4/18
Let's begin by exploring the #UrbanLegend our industry propagates. It comes up in discussions about hospital #ransomware murders when someone (on Twitter it's usually me) asks for an obituary.
Except #NickoSilar isn't the first to be identified. It's a *different*…
Let's begin by exploring the #UrbanLegend our industry propagates. It comes up in discussions about hospital #ransomware murders when someone (on Twitter it's usually me) asks for an obituary.
Except #NickoSilar isn't the first to be identified. It's a *different*…
5/18
…#UrbanLegend about a woman in Germany who died in a hospital #ransomware attack.
Of course I'm fully prepared to dispel that urban legend as you can see in the example reply below. Then, and only then, does the debate shift to #NickoSilar.
…#UrbanLegend about a woman in Germany who died in a hospital #ransomware attack.
Of course I'm fully prepared to dispel that urban legend as you can see in the example reply below. Then, and only then, does the debate shift to #NickoSilar.
https://twitter.com/vmyths/status/1435224954316918787
6/18
Of course I'm fully prepared to dispel that #UrbanLegend, too, as you can see in the example reply below.
At this point various debaters will delete their own tweets and the conversation ends (as you can see in my example replies):
Of course I'm fully prepared to dispel that #UrbanLegend, too, as you can see in the example reply below.
At this point various debaters will delete their own tweets and the conversation ends (as you can see in my example replies):
https://twitter.com/vmyths/status/1524371321961996289
7/18
Okay, so we know the #UrbanLegend surrounding #NickoSilar's "death by #ransomware." It's time for facts.
Here's the TL;DR:
Wall Street Journal investigative reporter Kevin Poulsen et al. picked up the story 1½ years AFTER the baby died.
web.archive.org/web/2021100100…
Okay, so we know the #UrbanLegend surrounding #NickoSilar's "death by #ransomware." It's time for facts.
Here's the TL;DR:
Wall Street Journal investigative reporter Kevin Poulsen et al. picked up the story 1½ years AFTER the baby died.
web.archive.org/web/2021100100…
8/18
That's it. That's the only fact you need to know.
Nobody in cybersecurity knew of this baby's birth for 2¼ years, nor of her death for 1½ years. We learned about it *only* because the wheels of justice finally moved along barely enough for us to detect it.
That's it. That's the only fact you need to know.
Nobody in cybersecurity knew of this baby's birth for 2¼ years, nor of her death for 1½ years. We learned about it *only* because the wheels of justice finally moved along barely enough for us to detect it.
9/18
That's all you need to know for now, because that's all Kevin Poulsen has written on Twitter. He hasn't used both "hospital" and "ransomware" in a tweet since his #NickoSilar story dated 30 September 2021. Nor has he tweeted about Nicko Silar since.
That's all you need to know for now, because that's all Kevin Poulsen has written on Twitter. He hasn't used both "hospital" and "ransomware" in a tweet since his #NickoSilar story dated 30 September 2021. Nor has he tweeted about Nicko Silar since.
10/18
I agree with anyone who feels the cybersecurity community has "matured" since the #antivirus industry coalesced in 1988.
Yet it's true that in 2022, our community still adores a good #UrbanLegend. To this day we don't need facts to claim deaths!
I agree with anyone who feels the cybersecurity community has "matured" since the #antivirus industry coalesced in 1988.
Yet it's true that in 2022, our community still adores a good #UrbanLegend. To this day we don't need facts to claim deaths!
https://twitter.com/vmyths/status/1486540221286080512
11/18
You'll find any number of experts who believe hospital deaths increased by some (infinitesimal?) value since the 2017 NHS #ransomware attack. In the words of Josh Corman: "a cyberattack can strain you enough to contribute to excess deaths."
You'll find any number of experts who believe hospital deaths increased by some (infinitesimal?) value since the 2017 NHS #ransomware attack. In the words of Josh Corman: "a cyberattack can strain you enough to contribute to excess deaths."
https://twitter.com/joshcorman/status/1544360285754085378
12/18
I agree with experts who believe #ransomware stresses doctors & nurses. I've not contested the CISA statistical analysis Josh Corman cites.
AND
I believe stress from COVID politics had a bigger impact on hospital staff than #ransomware.
I agree with experts who believe #ransomware stresses doctors & nurses. I've not contested the CISA statistical analysis Josh Corman cites.
AND
I believe stress from COVID politics had a bigger impact on hospital staff than #ransomware.
https://twitter.com/joshcorman/status/1544368505910398976
13/18
(I notice Corman used the word "strain," not "stress." It hints at perhaps a greater #ransomware problem in U.S. hospitals than we know. If this is true, it may be simply be the *hospital* industry is statistically blind to the true scope of their problem.) 😬
(I notice Corman used the word "strain," not "stress." It hints at perhaps a greater #ransomware problem in U.S. hospitals than we know. If this is true, it may be simply be the *hospital* industry is statistically blind to the true scope of their problem.) 😬
14/18
Let's face reality: if a pregnant woman rolls into a Texas ER for an emergency abortion, the staff won't pause to fret "what if #ransomware strikes as we struggle to decide who lives and who dies?" They'll feel a different, more "supreme" stress.
Let's face reality: if a pregnant woman rolls into a Texas ER for an emergency abortion, the staff won't pause to fret "what if #ransomware strikes as we struggle to decide who lives and who dies?" They'll feel a different, more "supreme" stress.
https://twitter.com/vmyths/status/1443985378189484076
15/18
(Actually, the staff may overlook an old woman who comes in griping how Alka Seltzer didn't quench her heartburn. She drops dead while the staff focuses on the pregnant woman. But hey, at least the old lady didn't die from a #ransomware attack!)
nytimes.com/2022/05/09/wel…
(Actually, the staff may overlook an old woman who comes in griping how Alka Seltzer didn't quench her heartburn. She drops dead while the staff focuses on the pregnant woman. But hey, at least the old lady didn't die from a #ransomware attack!)
nytimes.com/2022/05/09/wel…
16/18
Let's recap: no one in cybersecurity knew about #NickoSilar until 1½ years after her death certificate was filed and she was buried. The coroner didn't identify her cause of death as #ransomware nor a #cyber attack nor anything of that nature.
Let's recap: no one in cybersecurity knew about #NickoSilar until 1½ years after her death certificate was filed and she was buried. The coroner didn't identify her cause of death as #ransomware nor a #cyber attack nor anything of that nature.
https://twitter.com/vmyths/status/1401540378776391681
17/18
Yesterday was #NickoSilar's birthday. Yet across all of Twitter, only I cherished her memory. That … is a sad fact.
Especially given all the belated hoopla our cybersecurity community delivered in the form of an #UrbanLegend.
PS: 🤨
Yesterday was #NickoSilar's birthday. Yet across all of Twitter, only I cherished her memory. That … is a sad fact.
Especially given all the belated hoopla our cybersecurity community delivered in the form of an #UrbanLegend.
PS: 🤨
https://twitter.com/vmyths/status/1401554885431205892
18/18
I'll close this thread on a salient quote from Josh Corman: "Lots of prior exaggeration and crying wolf about the wrong things exhausted people for when clear and critical thinking is required."
Truer words were never spoken, Josh.
@threadreaderapp please unroll
I'll close this thread on a salient quote from Josh Corman: "Lots of prior exaggeration and crying wolf about the wrong things exhausted people for when clear and critical thinking is required."
Truer words were never spoken, Josh.
@threadreaderapp please unroll
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