About 57percent of all medical practices in the country have fewer than 10doctors, and 15 percent are solo practitioners. Such practices havefew resources to devote to cybersecurity. (Image:Shutterstock)

Health care providers around the country are getting hit hard by cyberattacks that put at risk theprivacy of their patients as well as their ability to deliver coreservices.

In recent years there have been a number of prominent cases ofmajor hospitals getting hit by ransomware attacks, such asHollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, which in 2016 paidcybercriminals to gain back control of their computer system.

A study released last week by Emsisoft, a cybersecurity firm,reported that 621 entities have been affected by ransomware thisyear, including local governments, schools and hospitals.

Related: How to reduce cybersecurity risk to employees'health data

Just last week DCH Health System in Alabama scrambled to dealwith a ransomware attack that paralyzed the computer system at itsthree hospitals, forcing it to turn away all but the highest-riskpatients.

While the health care sector in general has been behind thecurve on cybersecurity, small providers, including clinics andspecialists, may be even more vulnerable and are less likely tohave the resources to respond to a successful attack.

About 57 percent of all medical practices in the country havefewer than 10 doctors and 15 percent are solo practitioners.

The Wall Street Journal reports on a variety of small providers thathave been hit with ransom demands recently. Andy Fitzegerald, CEOof Campbell County Health in Wyoming said that hackers gainedcontrol of the hospital's computer system last month and demanded aransom.

Fitzgerald did not disclose the size of the ransom or whether hepaid it, but the immediate aftermath of the cyberattack includedshutting down many of the hospital's key services, includingradiology, endocrinology and respiratory therapy. Some patients hadto be transferred to hospitals in other states.

Some practices may find it impossible to recover from theeffects of an attack. Wood Ranch Medical in Simi Valley, Californiahas announced that it will be shutting down as a result of aransomware attack.

"Unfortunately, the damage to our computer system was such thatwe are unable to recover the data stored there and, with our backupsystem encrypted as well, we cannot rebuild our medical records,"says a note on the hospital's website. "As much as I have enjoyedproviding medical care to you, I will not be able to attend to youprofessionally after that date."

Read more: 

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• CMS proposal would ease access to health caredata
• Data thieves target health care's weak securitynetwork