Ethics were once a deterrent for cyber criminals targeting healthcare institutions, but that is no longer the case. According to research from cybersecurity firm Check Point Software Technologies, healthcare organisations in South Africa face an average of 1,626 cyber attacks per week.
In observance of World Health Day on 7 April, Shayimamba Conco, cyber security expert at Check Point, confirms: “There was a time when cyber criminals refrained from attacking the world’s healthcare institutions for ethical reasons. But those days are over.”
This article in IT Web covers the following topics:
- Poor cyber hygiene
- A rising threat
- Major attacks in South Africa
- Ransomware – a growing threat
- Medical devices – an emerging vulnerability
Read the full article here. Click Here
A particularly concerning trend is the rise in attacks targeting connected medical devices such as pacemakers, insulin pumps and imaging machines.
According to the 2023 State of Cybersecurity for Medical Devices and Healthcare Systems Report by Health-ISAC, Finite State and Securin, over 1 000 vulnerabilities were discovered in medical devices in 2023. However, only 15% of manufacturers had vulnerability disclosure programmes in place.
“Attackers don’t need to breach a hospital’s network to cause chaos – they can now exploit IOMT (internet of medical things) devices that serve as unguarded entry points,” Conco adds. “Cyber criminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated, specifically targeting medical devices in addition to networks, servers, personal computers and databases.”
