12 Feb Ransomware Attacks on Healthcare Surged 58% in 2025: What Dental Practices Need to Know in 2026
Ransomware attacks on the healthcare sector increased by a staggering 58% in 2025, and dental practices are squarely in the crosshairs as we move into 2026. According to a recent report from Comparitech, 636 ransomware attacks targeted the total healthcare sector last year — and the trend shows no signs of slowing down.
The Numbers Tell a Disturbing Story
Healthcare providers faced 445 ransomware attacks in 2025, up from 437 in 2024. But the more alarming figure comes from healthcare-related businesses — medical billing companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and healthcare technology firms — where attacks grew 25% year-over-year to 191 incidents.
Perhaps most concerning for dental offices: attacks surged by 50% in the fourth quarter of 2025 alone, suggesting that cybercriminals are ramping up their efforts heading into the new year.
Data breaches across the sector exposed more than 16.5 million patient records, though security researchers caution that the true number is likely much higher as disclosures continue to emerge.
The Ransomware Groups Targeting Healthcare
The most active ransomware strains targeting healthcare providers in 2025 included Qilin, INC, SafePay, Sinobi, and Medusa. Qilin was responsible for the highest number of confirmed attacks and is expected to remain the most dominant group through 2026.
The Conduent data breach — one of the largest healthcare-related incidents — exposed Social Security numbers, medical records, and insurance data of over 25 million Americans. While this affected a large enterprise, the same ransomware groups are increasingly turning their attention to smaller targets like dental practices, which often have weaker security postures.
A Silver Lining — Sort Of
One positive trend: average ransom demands fell dramatically to $615,000 for healthcare providers, down 84% from 2024’s average of $3.9 million. For healthcare-related businesses, demands dropped to $584,700 — a 92% decrease.
However, don’t let these lower numbers lull you into complacency. For a dental practice, even a $50,000 ransom demand can be devastating, not to mention the operational downtime, HIPAA breach notification costs, and potential loss of patient trust.
New Protection Options for Dental Practices
Recognizing the growing threat, CISO Global recently partnered with TeleDental to launch CyberSimple® powered by CHECKLIGHT®, a cybersecurity solution specifically designed for dental clinics. The platform provides up to $1.5 million in financial protection while helping dental offices defend against cyberattacks, ransomware, and data breaches.
This is part of a broader trend of cybersecurity vendors recognizing that dental practices need affordable, managed security solutions rather than enterprise-grade tools they can’t effectively deploy.
What Your Dental Office Should Do Now
Here are the critical steps every dental practice should take to protect against ransomware in 2026:
- Implement the 3-2-1 backup rule: Maintain three copies of your data, on two different media types, with one copy stored offsite or in the cloud. Test your restores regularly.
- Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA): Every system that touches patient data should require MFA. This includes your practice management software, email, and cloud storage.
- Keep systems updated: Unpatched software is the number one entry point for ransomware. Enable automatic updates wherever possible.
- Train your staff: Phishing emails remain the primary delivery method for ransomware. Conduct regular security awareness training for all team members.
- Segment your network: Keep your practice management system and imaging workstations on a separate network segment from general internet browsing.
- Have an incident response plan: Know exactly what to do if ransomware hits — who to call, how to isolate systems, and how to notify patients under HIPAA requirements.
- Consider cyber insurance: With ransomware attacks this common, cyber insurance is no longer optional. Make sure your policy covers ransomware specifically.
The Bottom Line
Ransomware isn’t going away — it’s getting worse. Dental practices are attractive targets because they hold valuable patient health information and often lack dedicated IT security staff. The time to strengthen your defenses is now, before you become another statistic in next year’s report.
If you’re unsure where to start, consider engaging a managed security service provider (MSSP) with healthcare experience, or look into dental-specific solutions like CyberSimple that are designed for practices of all sizes.