Cybersecurity - is healthcare the new target?

The market of IoMT has never been more flourishing, as the healthcare industry is definitely embracing the digital era. With the Covid pandemic playing an accelerating role, connected medical devices are now widespread both inside and outside of hospitals, collecting and processing a tremendous amount of valuable data every day. The flip side of the coin is the increasing need to ensure data are secured and thus protected from cyberattacks.

The end of 2020 has been marked by a surge in cyberattacks targeting healthcare organizations worldwide. Indeed, cyberattacks have reportetly increased by 45%, placing the healthcare industry amongst the most vulnerable sectors, IoT-type cyberattacks being the most common ones.

The pandemic is definitely one explanation; for over a year now, hospitals have been pivotal in governments’ COVID-19 crisis response. An opportunity to disrupt the system that has not gone unnoticed in the cybercriminal world.
France alone suffered 2 ransomware attacks in less than a week, leading to the transfer of some patients to other facilities.
But the potential impact could be even more severe. In 2017, the WannaCry ransomware attacks resulted in the cancellation of critical surgeries.

Unlike in other sectors, shutting down the whole system in a hospital is not an option whenever facing a cyberattack. And cybercriminals know it too well.
One way to overcome this threat is to ensure that cyber security risks are being taken into account by all actors, including device manufacturers, at the earliest stage of the design process. The development of edge computing is also promising in the quest to secure healthcare data.

With connected devices definitely shaping the future of healthcare, only solutions that tackle cyber security issues will stand out. Better be safe than sorry.