Isn't that alarming that even the "safest" place for patients isn't safe at all? The health sector was mercilessly attacked by cyberattacks this year, and things are getting worse. Just recall the Change Healthcare attack in February, which revealed millions of data from patients.
This is just scary. Why should this critical sector be more cautious against these attacks?
Ransomware Attacks' Critical Impact on Patient Health
According to a new Microsoft report, ransomware attacks are not only affecting data but pose a serious threat to physical health. Reports said that the loss of access to diagnostic equipment and medical records can lead to instant, severe damage to patient care when it attacks healthcare providers.
The report also indicated that confirmed strokes rose by 113.6 percent and stroke response teams almost doubled during hospital attacks, cases of cardiac arrest increased by 81%, while the survival rate of critical cases dropped from 40% to only 4.5%.
These attacks also have a strain on local healthcare facilities, which oftentimes experience a surge of patients diverted from affected hospitals. This influx causes longer wait times and overtime against available resources, further endangering the health of patients.
Rural health clinics are especially vulnerable as they often have minimal budgets for cybersecurity and very few dedicated security personnel.
The small facilities are often lifelines for communities in remote areas; a cyber disruption can cause devastating effects on the population without an alternative source of healthcare nearby.
Why Healthcare Needs To Be Always The Concern For Hackers?
Healthcare has become one of the most targeted sectors for ransomware attacks, which have increased by over 300% since 2015. This quarter of 2024 was the third in which healthcare appeared on the list of the top 10 most affected industries.
Moreover, healthcare organizations keep massive sensitive data, including medical histories and financial information, which makes them extremely valuable for hackers.
Hospitals cannot afford to compromise patient outcomes by their failures in the system, and hackers have taken well into it to avoid further disruption as well as patient privacy.
The seeming willingness to pay has only fueled more attacks in the vicious cycle the healthcare industry falls into.
The problem is compounded by the underfunding of cybersecurity in health care. This creates another layer of problems since healthcare organizations tend to spend much less on cybersecurity than other industries and have difficulty defending against sophisticated attacks.
Most facilities lack a dedicated cybersecurity team, chief information security officers, or advanced security operation centers. Cybersecurity work is usually added to the general IT workload, leaving further gaps in protection.
In addition, the lack of training in cybersecurity for physicians, nurses, and other staff creates conditions under which phishing attacks and many other common threats go unnoticed, thereby increasing the opportunity for breach.
Improving Cybersecurity for Healthcare
This requires an urgent response from the healthcare sector. The first steps that need to be taken, as FoxNews writes, are increased budgets for cyber security, regular security training of all staff, and recruiting specific cybersecurity specialists. Additionally, since healthcare facilities rely on digital systems, these must have good backup and recovery plans prior to when an attack occurs.
Ultimately, protecting patient care depends on healthcare organizations building stronger protections against ransomware and other cyber threats.
Developing a higher level of protection and vigilance culture will help providers work toward healing patients' lives with security and securing their data.
