Intelligent CIO Europe Issue 58 | Page 56

FEATURE : SOFTWARE

THE IMPACT CAN BECOME DEVASTATING – EVEN POTENTIALLY FATAL – IF CRITICAL ACTIVITIES ARE INTERRUPTED , LET ALONE PREVENTED , BY A SOFTWARE OUTAGE .

The healthcare opportunity
A recent report from the Department for Digital , Culture , Media & Sport ( DCMS ) found that 31 % of businesses experience a data breach or cyberattack at least once a week . This is a shocking statistic and one that healthcare companies in particular need to be wary of as there are a number of reasons why they are a particular target for cybercriminals .
The first is because of the damage that a successful cyberattack can have on a healthcare organisation , potentially holding vast quantities of private or sensitive patient data . The impact can become devastating – even potentially fatal – if critical activities are interrupted , let alone prevented , by a software outage . These implications may encourage healthcare organisations to consider coughing up larger ransom demands to decrypt their data , stop it from being released on the Dark Web or prevent downtime that may stop them from continuing business as usual . While some cybergangs have communicated that they do not target healthcare companies because of the critical nature of their work , this certainly isn ’ t the case for all of them .
Another reason healthcare is particularly targeted is due to the sheer size of the industry . For example , the NHS employs 1.2 million people , making it a large employer in Europe and one of the largest in the world . This is important because human error is one of the leading causes of cyberattacks and therefore a significant risk that must be mitigated . People are invaluable to the success of any healthcare organisation , but many employees simply aren ’ t aware of the security risk they unwittingly pose . The breadth of threats IT and security teams need to protect against is vast , ranging from connected medical devices in hospitals , nurses visiting outpatients in rural areas and reporting back their findings to the huge number of freelance or zero hours administrative staff that work across the business .
Finally , while some healthcare technology is miles ahead of its time – think of the advent of robotassisted surgery – there are still many areas in which the industry is behind the curve . Legacy technology is rife within the sector , sometimes due
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