These breaches disrupt the flow of critical supplies, leading to delays in surgeries and medical procedures, with 82% of affected organizations reporting severe impacts on patient care. This marks an increase from 77% in the previous year. In extreme cases, these delays have resulted in higher mortality rates, with 28% of healthcare organizations reporting an increase in patient deaths due to cyberattacks—a 5% rise from the previous year.
While ransomware attacks remain a concern, their impact on healthcare has slightly decreased, with fewer institutions feeling at risk compared to last year. However, the financial burden of ransomware attacks has grown, with average ransoms now exceeding $1 million. The focus is increasingly shifting to securing supply chains to ensure uninterrupted patient care and safeguard lives.
Healthcare cybersecurity must now prioritize supply chain protection as a critical component of patient safety. Strengthening vendor relationships, implementing robust security protocols, and enhancing monitoring efforts are essential to prevent future disruptions. As the industry moves forward, collaboration between healthcare providers, suppliers, and cybersecurity experts will be key to ensuring that patient care remains unaffected by these growing threats. The urgency to act is clear—lives depend on it.
Source: Cybermagazine
The European Cyber Intelligence Foundation is a nonprofit think tank specializing in intelligence and cybersecurity, offering consultancy services to government entities. To mitigate potential threats, it is important to implement additional cybersecurity measures with the help of a trusted partner like INFRA www.infrascan.net, or you can try yourself using check.website.