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CyberCX’s latest report on the healthcare cyber security landscape reveals artificial intelligence as both a threat and an opportunity.
Australia has had a shocking month of cyber attacks against entities in the healthcare sector, with ransomware attacks targeting healthcare clinics and medical centres alike, leading to intimate patient data being posted to the darknet for other criminals to take advantage of.
In one week alone, at the end of February, a ransomware gang claimed responsibility for the hack of fertility clinic Genea, the Anubis gang claimed a hack of Victoria's Pound Road Medical Centre, and the Wagga Wagga-based Riverina Medical and Dental Aboriginal Corporation revealed it too had fallen victim to some form of cyber attack.
Now, Australian cyber security firm CyberCX has released the details of a report into the unique challenges the healthcare industry faces when it comes to protecting its data from unscrupulous cyber-criminals.
According to CyberCX, the healthcare sector is in the middle of an “explosion of tech debt” driven by a combination of rapid digital transformation and a relatively low level of cyber security maturity.
A situation that cyber-criminals are only all too ready to take advantage of, and – perhaps unsurprisingly – it’s the non-hospital providers in our healthcare system that are most under threat. In fact, non-hospital providers face ten times the attacks of their larger, hospital-based counterparts.
By and large, while the main threat is financially motivated actors, research institutes tend to be the focus of nation-bached threat actors on the hunt for research and population-level data.
“The delivery of safe modern medicine is underpinned by secure technology – there are few other sectors where decisions about technology and security have the ability to so profoundly impact human lives and wellbeing,” CyberCX’s Healthcare Industry Lead and report author, Megan Lane, said in a statement.
However, while the report details some unique challenges, it also expands on some opportunities. And when it comes to artificial intelligence, the technology is both a boon and a threat.
While many threat actors are now taking advantage of AI tools to boost their capacity in phishing and social engineering campaigns, AI-powered security solutions can also be a massive force multiplier for organisations seeking a rapid uplift of their security posture.
“Just as AI has the potential to revolutionise the way we diagnose and treat ill and vulnerable people, cyber threat actors are looking at how this technology can help them accelerate and better target their efforts.
“Health professionals all know that prevention is better than the cure, and the same is true for cyber security.
“A strong, safe, and secure health system is what patients and the broader community need and deserve.”
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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