01/29/2025 | News release | Distributed by Public on 01/29/2025 14:01
The healthcare industry faces a unique and urgent challenge in the ever-evolving world of cyber threats. As businesses across sectors fortify their digital defenses, healthcare stands out as a critical target due to its reliance on interconnected devices and vast repositories of sensitive patient data. Safeguarding healthcare's digital infrastructure, including electronic health records, networked medical devices, and communication systems, requires robust cybersecurity strategies tailored to this high-stakes industry. With cyberattacks growing in sophistication, protecting the integrity of healthcare operations is not just a technical necessity but a fundamental business priority that directly impacts patient trust and safety. Healthcare's digital assets and the processes using those must be cyber-resilient.
Healthcare organizations play a vital role in safeguarding sensitive patient information while delivering essential services. With the growing reliance on digital technologies like electronic health records, telemedicine, and IoT devices, the risk of cyberattacks has surged, threatening both critical operations and patient safety. Effective cybersecurity in healthcare is essential to prevent disruptions, protect sensitive data, maintain public trust, and ensure compliance with regulations like HIPAA, HITECH, or HITRUST.
In this article, we examine why cybersecurity is critical for healthcare providers in today's digital landscape and what cybersecurity risks organizations must prepare for.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there was a 93% increase in significant breaches reported from 2018 to 2022, along with 278% in ransomware attacks. In 2023, more than 133 million healthcare records were exposed to some attack. Why is healthcare such a prime target for cybercriminals?
As healthcare providers embrace digital transformation, they face unique cybersecurity challenges that threaten patient safety, data integrity, and critical processes. Below are some of the most pressing issues that make securing healthcare systems a complex and urgent priority.
Ransomware attacks depend on leverage to be successful. The more costly the disruption and urgent the need to restore critical services, the more leverage ransomware attackers have - which is why hospitals are an ideal target. In the event of a successful ransomware attack, surgeries must be delayed, emergency patients require diversion to alternative facilities, and access to vital patient data is obstructed. This scenario pressures healthcare providers to restore services quickly, giving ransomware operators significant leverage in their demands.
Phishing and social engineering attacks are not singular to healthcare attacks. Phishing remains a predominant attack method in all industry types, as the human element is typically the weakest link within any organization. However, healthcare workers may be particularly susceptible to such attacks due to their primary focus on patient care. The intense dedication to addressing health concerns can sometimes lead healthcare professionals to lower their guard against potential security threats inadvertently. Adding to this, healthcare workers regularly communicate with many people they do not know - patients, laboratory assistants, external auditors and more - so properly vetting every message is a huge burden.
The financial gain in selling patient records can prove tempting for employees. Cybercriminals are known to offer rewards to internal employees that can grant them remote access to critical systems. While this is certainly a threat, the possibility of accidental data loss or exposure is much greater. For instance, healthcare workers may accidentally send emails containing patient information to the wrong recipients or accidentally publicly post confidential data. Misconfigured settings can also lead to data exposure, and misplaced devices can compromise sensitive information.
Cybersecurity threats in healthcare put sensitive patient data at risk. Netwrix can help.
We care about security of your data.
Privacy PolicyCyberattacks in healthcare have far-reaching consequences that extend beyond data privacy concerns. Such attacks can directly affect people's lives. A recent Ponemon Institute study highlights the ramifications of these attacks on patient outcomes:
Even a minor delay in accessing patient records or operating medical devices can have life-threatening consequences. Device integrity also becomes an issue as compromised devices fail during critical moments or deliver wrong information.
In 2024, the average cost of a healthcare data breach was $9.77 million. Compare that to the average data breach cost across all sectors, which was $4.88 million. Healthcare breaches were twice as expensive as the average for all industries. This is not recent, as healthcare breaches have been the costliest for 14 years. These consistently elevated costs in healthcare can be attributed to several factors:
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a cornerstone regulation in U.S. healthcare cybersecurity. Its primary purpose is to protect patient health information (PHI) from unauthorized access to ensure it remains confidential. Some of its other key provisions include:
Non-compliance with HIPAA security rules can result in substantial fines ranging from $100 to $50,000 per violation, depending on the severity and intent.
The subtitle D of HITECH Act extends the complete Privacy and Security Provisions of HIPAA to the business associates of covered entities and requires all covered entities to report data breaches that affect 500 or more individuals.
While HIPAA is a mandatory baseline for healthcare organizations, cybersecurity performance goals (CPGs) are like a detailed instruction manual that helps teams achieve better security. CPGs complement HIPAA by providing concrete steps to improve cybersecurity posture. They do not replace HIPAA's legal requirements, though. Some of its outlined measures include:
If you are a healthcare organization that operates globally, you must also comply with applicable international compliance requirements. A classic example is the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which governs data protection and privacy for individuals within the European Union. GDPR has a broad scope as it applies to any organization processing the personal data of EU residents, regardless of the organization's location. It requires organizations to implement security measures at every stage of data handling and mandates reporting of data breaches to authorities within 72 hours.
Let's look at some of the best practices for establishing a proper security posture to protect healthcare data.
MFA reduces the risk of unauthorized access by requiring users to provide two or more verification factors when requesting access. This can include biometric authentication, one-time passwords (OTP), push notifications, FIDO keys, and SMS-based verification. Access controls that utilize role-based access control (RBAC) to assign permissions based on job functions should be implemented alongside MFA.
Given the prevalence of cyberattacks in today's digital landscape, organizations should operate under the assumption that they will face an attack at some point. Encrypting sensitive electronic data is a critical safeguard because it ensures that any exfiltrated information remains inaccessible without the decryption key. Ensure your chosen encryption aligns with HIPAA requirements, and regularly audit and monitor data access and usage.
The only way to ensure reliable continuity of your services is to plan for the worst. This involves creating a comprehensive disaster recovery plan that clearly defines procedures, roles, and responsibilities for operating in emergency mode. The plan should identify mission-critical infrastructure, applications, and data, incorporate redundant systems and backup power sources, and establish recovery time objectives (RTOs) for various systems to minimize downtime and disruption.
Any discussion about healthcare cybersecurity must begin with protecting Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems. Any cybersecurity strategy should include measures such as:
While the rise of network-connected medical devices has dramatically enhanced healthcare delivery, it has also expanded the attack surface. Some of the measures to protect these devices, in addition to critical infrastructure, include the following:
Your organization is only as secure as your supply chain and other third-party organizations with access to your systems. While it may seem uncomfortable to do so, you should enact the following procedures for all outside parties you work with:
The Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability (CIA) Triad has served as a fundamental model for information security. Its roots can be traced back to military security practices that focused on protecting information from external threats, and it is particularly relevant to healthcare organizations today. As its name implies, the CIA triad is comprised of three components.
Emerging trends in healthcare cybersecurity are reshaping how organizations protect sensitive patient data and critical systems. Below are some of the rapidly evolving advancements that are driving significant improvements in healthcare security practices:
While human expertise, critical thinking, and intuition remain essential in responding to complex cyberattacks, automation and AI increasingly serve as powerful multipliers in healthcare cybersecurity. These technologies enable organizations to defend against threats at machine speed, allowing security teams to focus on strategic decisions. Here are some ways AI and automation enhance healthcare security:
According to a 2023 industry survey, 70% of Health IT professionals reported that their organizations have adopted cloud computing solutions. The driving reason is that cloud providers deliver enterprise-grade security features that would be cost-prohibitive and overly complex for most healthcare organizations to build and maintain internally. Their security infrastructure, experienced security teams, and advanced security tools often exceed what individual organizations can achieve independently. Other benefits include access to cutting-edge technology such as AI and the ability to scale services dynamically to meet changing patient and operational needs.
Zero trust operates under the "never trust, always verify." This means the enforcement of continuous authentication and authorization for all users and devices. It is an approach quickly gaining traction in healthcare cybersecurity to secure sensitive patient data and the expanding Internet of IoMT devices, applications, and critical systems. Key components of a Zero Trust architecture suitable for healthcare settings include:
The UK's National Health Service (NHS) was one of the many organizations affected by the global WannaCry ransomware attack on May 12, 2017. The attack affected more than 200,000 computers in more than 150 countries. For the NHS, it led to the cancellation of thousands of appointments and operations, and in some cases, patients had to be diverted to other hospitals. Personnel had to revert to pen and paper and use personal mobile phones to continue operations. Ultimately, the attack cost the NHS an estimated £92 million.
In 2023, 141 hospitals were directly affected by ransomware attacks in the U.S. This trend continued into 2024 as we witnessed the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago fall victim to a cyberattack on January 31, 2024, that forced its IT systems offline. Staff were forced to work under downtime procedures and record patient information manually while its EHR was offline. The hospital struggled for weeks to restore its systems fully, and the breach ultimately exposed the sensitive health information of 791,784 individuals.
In a similar incident, Ascension Health, one of the largest non-profit health systems in the U.S., experienced a cyberattack that impacted many of its 140 hospitals across 19 states. The attack took almost six weeks to restore access to electronic medical systems and resume normal operations and compromised the personal information of an estimated 5,599,699 people.
Cybersecurity must continuously advance to keep pace with the ever-evolving attack methodologies. While early cybersecurity measures focused on perimeter defense and essential malware prevention, healthcare organizations must transition to zero trust when accessing their systems and hosted data. In addition to new technologies such as AI and automated tools, Blockchain technology is emerging to ensure data integrity and secure medical records. Considering how easy it is to launch password attacks, MFA will become standard practice, gradually replacing passwords with alternative authentication methods like biometrics and security keys.
One uncomfortable truth today is that you cannot stop all cyberattacks on your organization. That is why you must go beyond protection measures and make cyber resilience a key objective. Cyber resilience focuses on preparing for, responding to, and recovering from cyber incidents. The more resilient you are, the more likely you will be able to sustain, attack, and have business continuity. Continuity of operations is imperative for healthcare.
Begin by conducting a thorough evaluation of your current cybersecurity posture:
The goal here isn't just to prevent attacks and ensure your organization can continue providing essential healthcare services even while under attack. Regular evaluation and testing of these elements helps maintain operational resilience.
Netwrix provides a suite of solutions designed to address challenges in cyber security for healthcare organizations.
There are some real cybersecurity challenges in healthcare today, which is why all organizations within the healthcare industry must prioritize cybersecurity to create a safe healthcare environment. By aligning cybersecurity with patient safety initiatives, healthcare organizations can protect sensitive data, ensure continuity of care, and maintain public trust. Developing a culture of cybersecurity awareness must involve the commitment of company leadership, who must instill a culture towards viewing cybersecurity as a shared responsibility across all levels of the organization, from executives to frontline staff. While it is impossible to predict the future, we know that cyber threats will continue to evolve, so healthcare providers must remain vigilant, adaptable, and proactive in their approach to cybersecurity. By doing so, they can safeguard patient information, comply with regulations, and ensure the delivery of high-quality care in an increasingly interconnected healthcare ecosystem.
Discover how Netwrix solutions can help meet healthcare compliance
We care about security of your data.
Privacy PolicyHow is cybersecurity used in healthcare?
A primary objective of cybersecurity in healthcare is to protect sensitive patient data and ensure medical services' integrity. Healthcare organizations implement various strategies to achieve this, including:
What happened in the changing healthcare cyberattack 2024?
The Change Healthcare cyberattack in February 2024 was one of the most significant ransomware attacks on the U.S. healthcare system. It resulted in the theft of personal healthcare information belonging to over 100 million individuals, making it the most important known theft of medical data in U.S. history.
What does cybersecurity do in healthcare?
The healthcare industry relies on cybersecurity to safeguard patient data, medical devices, and healthcare systems from digital threats. It encompasses a range of protective measures designed to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of sensitive health information. These measures include implementing strict access controls, encrypting data at rest and in transit, deploying advanced firewalls and antivirus software, and staff education. Another aspect of healthcare cybersecurity is ensuring compliance with regulations like HIPAA. , conduct regular security assessments, and educate staff on best practices. By maintaining strong cybersecurity protocols, healthcare organizations can prevent data breaches, maintain operational continuity, and preserve patient trust in an increasingly digital healthcare landscape.
Why is healthcare a top target for cybersecurity threats?
The healthcare industry's wealth of sensitive data and critical operations makes it an obvious magnet for cybercriminals, and stolen healthcare data commands premium prices when sold on the dark web and other illicit marketplaces. The critical nature of healthcare services means organizations are more likely to pay ransoms quickly to restore essential patient care operations, making them attractive targets for extortion. On top of all this, many healthcare organizations often struggle with outdated systems, limited resources, and complex networks of interconnected devices, creating numerous vulnerabilities.
How to improve cyber security in healthcare?
Healthcare organizations can strengthen their cybersecurity through several key strategies:
What are the cybersecurity threats in healthcare?
Healthcare organizations face a wide range of cybersecurity threats, including data breaches, ransomware, phishing attacks, intentional or accidental insider threats, social engineering, and supply chain attacks. To make things even more challenging, healthcare organizations use devices like pacemakers, infusion pumps, and wearable devices that are often poorly secured, creating entry points for attackers.