Overall, electronic healthcare technology allows for a huge potential to improve clinical outcomes and transform care delivery. However, such advances and increased connectivity further exposes medical devices to cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Yet, healthcare is a prime target for cybercrime because it is a rich source of very valuable and personal information and current defenses are weak. Some examples of popular attacks are stealing health information, ransomware and attacks on medical devices. These attacks decrease patient trust and most devastatingly, threaten human life.
Various technologies include storage of electronic health records, health monitor devices, and many others. More recently, mobile applications have become more prominent in medical usage. Healthcare has seen such a growth that nowadays there is an average of 10-15 connected devices per bed in the US hospitals. These devices have all led to transforming treatment methods and improving patient care overall. However, more connections allow for more opportunities for attacks, especially with the integration of mobile applications. To make matters worse, healthcare organizations still use very outdated operating systems and funding for cybersecurity is very lacking as most funding for technology is used for integration and not upgrades.
Hacking has become one of the leading causes of health data breaches in attempts to steal medical health records or deny access to systems. Breaches have increased in number recently leading to a loss in finances, reputation, and patient safety. The 2017 WannaCry attack was one of the largest as 300000 computers across the world were infected with bitcoin ransoms.
