By Dan Hounsell

Healthcare systems are attractive targets for cyberattackers. Vast quantities of patient data is generated and accessed. An increased reliance on applications and data during the pandemic explains why cyberattacks have increased by 45 per cent globally since November 2020. 

The largest motivation for cyberattackers is financial gain because patient information is incredibly valuable on the dark web, according to Healthcare Global. Identity theft is another reason. Terry Ray, senior vice president at Imperva, says organizations should first address low-hanging fruit to protect this information.

“The application side is the primary access point for everything that's going to happen anywhere in the organisation” he says. “It doesn’t matter what EMR or systems you're using, whether you've outsourced or brought things in-house, the majority of your users are going to access patient data through an application, so you've got to make sure those are secure. You can't go low budget.”