Where Bits and Bytes Meet Flesh and Blood

A sight that most people have seen only in news reports or their entertainment equivalent—a screen announcing that malware has encrypted a computer's files, rendering the machine unusable until a ransom is paid—began appearing throughout Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) in Buffalo around 2 am last April 9.1 "What happened to your files?" taunted an intruding program before specifying payment procedures in the cryptocurrency Bitcoins. Such messages are increasingly common in the era of integrated systems and the Internet of Things, placing physicians and information technology personnel on a continuum from annoyance to dread.

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