The Most Aggressive Types of Ransomware Targeting Healthcare in 2025

Ransomware in healthcare is no longer a “what if.” It’s a daily reality.

In 2025, attackers are smarter, faster, and zeroed in on the healthcare sector. Clinics, hospitals, and providers are being targeted relentlessly—accounting for 17% of ransomware attacks globally. And the U.S. is ground zero: 386 healthcare organizations were hit last year alone, making up more than half of global incidents.

Why the surge? Simple: data value.
A single patient record can sell for up to $1,000 on the dark web. That includes medical histories, financial details, insurance IDs, and everything in between.

The cost of a breach goes far beyond ransom. Delayed care. Operational outages. Reputational damage. Regulatory risk. Healthcare has become the most valuable—and vulnerable—industry on the internet.

At LAVA Technology Services, we help our healthcare clients respond before the breach happens. Below, we break down the most dangerous ransomware strains of 2025, how they operate, and what you can do to protect your systems and patients with resilience-focused strategies.

LockBit 3.0: The Triple Threat

LockBit 3.0 is still topping watchlists—and for good reason. With 1,700+ U.S. attacks and over $91M in ransom paid, it remains one of the most aggressive actors.

Attack Tactics:

• Targets RDP misconfigurations and unpatched systems
• Uses phishing emails to bypass traditional endpoint protection
• Employs triple extortion: encryption, data leakage threats, and DDoS attacks
• Deletes Volume Shadow Copies to prevent simple backup recovery

How LAVA Helps:

Our immutable backup architecture ensures your data can’t be altered or deleted once written. Even if LockBit breaks through, recovery is fast, controlled, and clean.

BlackCat (ALPHV): The Ghost in the System

Responsible for the high-profile Change Healthcare breach in 2024, BlackCat disrupted pharmacies and billing systems nationwide—and forced a $22M payout.

Attack Tactics:

• Exploits Follina and MSDT vulnerabilities
• Uses “living-off-the-land” techniques to avoid detection
• Leverages NTLMv2 flaws for privilege escalation
• Executes double extortion quietly and efficiently

How LAVA Helps:
We deploy segmentation and lateral movement controls to isolate sensitive systems. That means even if attackers get in, they don’t get far.

Qilin & RansomHub: The New Faces of Chaos

Qilin, formerly known as Agenda, surged to the top of threat intel reports with 74 attacks in a single month. RansomHub remains dangerous—especially with their use of Zerologon exploits for full domain control.

Attack Tactics:

• Spear-phishing with Cobalt Strike
• Remote management exploits
• Golang-based ransomware for stealth and speed
• Zero-day vulnerabilities for rapid takeover

How LAVA Helps:
We provide live replication and continuous data protection, so your most critical data is always mirrored offsite—ready for rollback, no ransom required.

Akira, MedusaLocker & Play: Three Paths to Disruption

These attackers all have different entry points—but share one mission: maximum damage.

• Akira uses double extortion and can encrypt an entire system in hours.
• MedusaLocker preys on open RDP ports, common in smaller health systems.
• Play targets third-party IT providers, cascading breaches across supply chains.

How LAVA Helps:
We go beyond patching with endpoint hardening, third-party risk assessments, and AI-powered analytics built into our LAVA S.E.C.U.R.E.™ Framework.

RaaS: Ransomware-as-a-Service Is Fueling the Fire

The rise of Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) is making it easier for low-skilled actors to launch enterprise-grade attacks. Groups like Qilin and BlackCat now sell access to affiliates—with playbooks, payloads, and even customer support.

The result: More attacks. More chaos. Less predictability.

How LAVA Helps:
We integrate zero-trust security and behavioral detection tools that don’t just block known threats—we stop abnormal behavior in its tracks, even from new or unknown attackers.

The Cloud Is the New Battleground

As more healthcare systems shift to cloud-based EHR, PACS, and patient portals, attackers are following.

They’re exploiting APIs, virtual machines, and unsecured cloud backups—where legacy firewalls fall short.

How LAVA Helps:

• Immutable cloud backups stored in air-gapped environments
• CASB enforcement to govern user activity and data flow
• Continuous replication to ensure fast failover and instant recovery

We give your IT team the visibility and control they need—when minutes matter most.

Cyber Resilience Is the Prescription for Healthcare

Healthcare can’t afford to wait for alerts. It needs resilience by design—a strategy built around:

• Visibility across systems and users
• Real-time detection and segmentation
• Rapid recovery that doesn’t rely on hope or luck

At LAVA Technology Services, we don’t just sell security—we build confidence. From hospitals to private practices to medtech platforms, we help you plan for the worst while operating at your best.

Let’s Build a Healthcare Defense Strategy That Works

If you’re a healthcare leader tired of feeling one step behind ransomware actors, now’s the time to act.

Contact our team for a free ransomware resilience consultation.
We’ll evaluate your exposure and design a layered defense strategy customized for the healthcare environment.

Because in 2025, survival isn’t enough. You need resilience.