In recent years, the healthcare sector has faced increasingly intense and complex cybersecurity threats. Organizations are spending more money than ever on security, but hackers keep finding ways in and continue stealing sensitive data, including personal medical records.<\/p>\n
As hospital technology evolves, so will the threats. The rapid pace of change means that hospitals will face even more pressure because as fast as new prevention techniques are released, cybercriminals move on to the next generation of attacks.<\/p>\n
Healthcare IT systems have only recently become attractive targets for cybercriminals. That is because healthcare organizations are increasingly holding more and more lucrative patient data \u2014 personal and financial information that cybercriminals can use to commit identity fraud.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, with more healthcare services being provided online and the use of mobile devices increasing, hackers are exploiting new vulnerabilities and using ransomware to take systems down. With the lives of patients at stake, many organizations decide the best option is to pay the ransom to retrieve data and get their services restored.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, it\u2019s difficult to see a future beyond an escalated game of cat and mouse playing out between healthcare security and hackers. The recent spate of attacks on hospitals in the US and around the world has certainly raised awareness of potential threats, but one might also argue that the ease in which some groups have attacked healthcare systems has also highlighted the rewards for hackers.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s plenty of evidence that cybercriminals are targeting less-modern systems, and over the next five to 10 years we expect healthcare providers will invest in updated technology for greater security.<\/p>\n
The challenge for IT managers in this sector has always been managing an infrastructure built over diverse and overlapping technology waves, often with gaps between the layers that enable hacker access.<\/p>\n
The systems are cumbersome and difficult to manage. In many cases, the manufacturers of system components no longer provide support for the products. For example, Microsoft withdrew support for Windows XP a couple of years ago, which means that the software is no longer updated or patched for security.<\/p>\n
Legacy systems, especially those more than a decade old, are extremely vulnerable and often integrated too deeply into an organization\u2019s infrastructure to be replaced. But as security threats intensify over the coming years, replacing these systems with modern IT will become a priority for healthcare providers.<\/p>\n
As more critical medical equipment and devices move online, the stakes for security are high \u2014 malicious actors hijacking and controlling them could have deadly consequences.<\/p>\n