Beyond the Operating Room: Cyber Resilience for Healthcare

Securing Healthcare: Protecting Lives and Patient Data

Today's healthcare systems are under attack. These institutions, crucial for saving lives and safeguarding patient information, are attractive targets due to their critical operations.
 
Healthcare, like most industries, is increasingly embracing digital technologies to enhance patient care, streamline operations, and improve overall efficiency. Yet, this digital evolution brings forth a range of cybersecurity threats that accompany the integration of advanced healthcare systems. With healthcare environments primarily optimized for patient well-being, security measures are often overlooked.

Why Healthcare

1
Patient Data
Hospitals, holding valuable patient data, face increasing cyber threats as hackers target this lucrative information. Financial penalties, imposed for data retrieval, compound the healthcare industry's already challenging financial pressures.
2
Exploitable Devices

Medical devices are vulnerable entry points for attacks, as they often lack security features. While they may not store patient data, they can be exploited to access valuable information or even take over devices, disrupting life-saving treatments and potentially allowing broader network access.

3
Staff Awareness
Healthcare staff lack cybersecurity expertise due to resource constraints. Medical staff requires a secure network that is quick and easy to access. 

The Impact of Cyber Threats

655421

Impact to Services

Cyber threats can delay patient care, potentially lead to department closures, and cause treatment delays. 
exclamation-mark

Liability from HIPAA Compliance

Hospitals must adhere to strict regulations, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Non-compliance due to data breaches can result in severe legal consequences and penalties.

block

Patient Safety Risks

Patient well-being is of the utmost importance. Any cybersecurity threat that affects healthcare operations can directly impact patient safety.

5964320

Financial Losses

Beyond the immediate costs of addressing a cyber threats, healthcare organizations may face significant financial losses, including the expenses related to recovery, potential fines, and reputational damage.
 

 

 

Common Threats in Healthcare 

  • Data Breaches: Healthcare organizations store large amounts of sensitive data about their patients. Data theft is a common goal of attackers targeting healthcare.

  • Ransomware: Healthcare organizations are heavily reliant on their data and networked systems to provide care. Ransomware attacks can hold these systems hostage until the organization meets the attacker’s demands.

  • Malware: Beyond ransomware, healthcare organizations can be infected with various types of malware. For example, infostealer malware can collect and exfiltrate login credentials that grant attackers access to healthcare systems.

  • Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS): A DDoS attack uses a network of compromised systems to bombard a target with more traffic than it can handle. Like a ransomware attack, a DDoS attacker may demand a ransom to restore an organization’s operations.

  • Phishing: Phishing attacks are designed to trick the recipient into handing over sensitive information or infecting their system with malware. This is a common first step for data breaches, ransomware, and similar attacks.

 

 

Healthcare organizations worldwide averaged 1,400 cyberattacks per week in 2022

How SCYTHE Can Help

SCYTHE's breach and attack emulation capabilities are designed to empower hospitals and healthcare organizations by providing proactive threat analysis, prioritization, and comprehensive testing of their cybersecurity defenses. This allows hospitals and their teams to continuously enhance their security posture, ensuring that their resources are efficiently allocated to address the most critical threats.

Let's Do This

  • Understand & Prioritize Threats

    SCYTHE's BAS+ emulation of real-world adversarial attacks provides invaluable contextual insight into the healthcare industry’s potential threats.

  • Advance Cyber Security Maturity

    Purple Teaming empowers hospitals to go beyond regulatory checkboxes with proactive cybersecurity practices.

  • Validate & Optimize Security Controls

    SCYTHE allows SOC teams to verify their security controls through production-safe threat emulation, realistically mimicking the strategies of malicious actors while ensuring the safety of hospital infrastructure.