Ransomware Reality: Hospitals Under Siege in Real Life and On Screen

Politico argues HBO’s The Pitt spotlights a growing real‑world threat: ransomware attacks crippling hospital networks, forcing downtime, paper-based care, and patient diversions. Real incidents like the Stryker outage and Mississippi’s medical center disruptions show outages can last weeks and jeopardize care, prompting calls for federal funding, improved agency collaboration, and stronger policy—while some polls suggest such attacks could be viewed as acts of war.