Stopping Cyber Threats in Healthcare Before the Bad Guys Win

Written by Nicolas Severino, Chief Revenue Officer at ClearDATA, originally published in Healthcare Business Today.

Stopping Cyber Threats in Healthcare Before the Bad Guys Win

This isn’t a scene from a dystopian film; instead, this could be the new reality in healthcare that many wake up to find themselves scrambling to fix – your hospital’s systems offline, no access to patient records, no ability to administer life-saving treatments, and no clear answers.

This is the reality many healthcare providers are petrified to face due to increasingly targeted and sophisticated cyberattacks, potentially.

Last year, the HIPAA Journal reported that between October 21, 2009, and December 31, 2023, 5,887 large healthcare data breaches had been reported. On January 22, 2023, the breach portal listed 857 data breaches that were still under investigation. The report stated that there was no letup in cyberattacks on healthcare organizations in 2023, which set two new records – the most reported data breaches and the most breached records. In 2023, 725 data breaches were reported, and more than 133 million records were exposed or impermissibly disclosed across those breaches.

The data shows that the stakes are clearly high. These breaches and attacks have disrupted patient care, eroded trust, and even threatened national security. Healthcare is under siege by a growing army of bad actors—some motivated by financial gain, others by ideology, and still others by geopolitical ambitions.

Gone are the days of the stereotypical lone hacker. Cybercrime has evolved into a multibillion-dollar industry supported by sophisticated ecosystems. Nation-states have been known to fund and even prioritize attacks on critical infrastructure, including healthcare, to sow chaos and exert geopolitical influence. Meanwhile, organized crime groups have monetized cyberattacks through ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) programs, allowing virtually anyone with malicious intent to launch highly effective attacks.

This industrialization of cybercrime has left healthcare systems exposed. Ransomware attacks have become a favored weapon, encrypting patient data and crippling operations. Even more alarming, the rise of AI enables attackers to scan for vulnerabilities, bypass security protocols, and tailor attacks to specific targets with unprecedented precision.

What’s at stake? A lot! The consequences of a healthcare cybersecurity breach are far-reaching. The most immediate impact is on patient safety. When systems go down, surgeries are delayed, medication schedules are interrupted, and lives are put at risk. However, the ripple effects extend beyond the clinical setting. Consider just a few of them:

• Economic Impact: The costs of ransomware payments, regulatory fines, legal battles, and downtime can cripple healthcare organizations, especially those already operating on tight margins.
• Loss of Public Trust: A single breach can destroy years of goodwill as patients grow wary of entrusting their sensitive information to an institution that couldn’t protect it.
• National Security Risks: The Department of Homeland Security Threat Assessment highlights healthcare as a critical target for foreign adversaries. Thus, these attacks are more than just local tragedies—they are acts of war on our infrastructure.

Weak Spots in Healthcare Security

Why is healthcare such a prime target for cybercriminals? For one, the industry is uniquely vulnerable. A combination of outdated infrastructure, the explosion of connected devices, and an ever-growing pool of sensitive data makes it an attractive—and easy—target.

From legacy systems that are decades old and not designed to withstand today’s threats to human error, where even the most advanced systems can be undone by a single misstep like an employee clicking a phishing link or a weak password – the vulnerabilities are plenty. We are also seeing IoT devices, from pacemakers to MRI machines, that are not built with security in mind and provide entry points or cloud misconfigurations that, while offering efficiency, also introduce new risks, leaving sensitive data exposed to anyone with an internet connection.

One of the most concerning trends is how long attackers often go undetected. Some breaches last weeks or months before they’re discovered, allowing bad actors ample time to exfiltrate data, disrupt operations, or plant ransomware. Threat actors frequently exploit common vulnerabilities such as the ones previously mentioned.

And the tools the bad guys are using have become more sophisticated. Ransomware attacks increasingly involve “double extortion,” where attackers encrypt data and threaten to release it publicly.

The good news is that these threats, while formidable, are not insurmountable. By prioritizing cybersecurity as a fundamental part of patient care, healthcare organizations can better protect themselves and their patients.

The Role of Collaboration

Cybersecurity is not an isolated battle. To stay ahead of emerging threats, healthcare organizations must collaborate with industry peers, government agencies, and private-sector experts. Sharing information about vulnerabilities and attack patterns can strengthen the collective defense more than any individual effort.

When hospitals can’t function, lives are lost. When personal data is stolen, trust erodes. When critical infrastructure is targeted, the ripple effects threaten every aspect of our society. Nation-states and bad actors understand this, and they are leveraging it to manufacture disruptions that weaken our society from within.

Healthcare organizations must make cybersecurity a core component of their mission by 2025. The time to act is now.

Originally published in Healthcare Business Today, March 7, 2025.