For more than twenty years, Cybersecurity Awareness Month—launched by the National Cybersecurity Alliance and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security—has focused on helping everyone stay safe and secure online. Each October, CISA and the National Cybersecurity Alliance lead this effort by providing resources to raise awareness and promote practical online safety. This year, we spotlighted cybersecurity in healthcare, exploring key challenges like sophisticated ransomware and AI-driven attacks, third-party and supply chain vulnerabilities, and legacy systems that expand the attack surface. This week’s Friday Five revisits some expert insights on these topics and highlights our Cybersecurity, Privacy, and HIPAA Playlist.
Third-Party and Supply Chain Vulnerabilities
Third-party and supply chain vulnerabilities pose a major risk to healthcare by allowing cyberattacks and operational disruptions to impact patient care. Cybercriminals are exploiting weak security in vendors, cloud services, and connected devices to access patient data and disrupt services.
Sophisticated Ransomware and AI-Driven Attacks
According to AHA Cyber Intel, sophisticated ransomware and AI-driven attacks pose an unprecedented threat to the healthcare sector, moving beyond simple data theft to a “threat-to-life” crime. AI accelerates and enhances the effectiveness of ransomware, while healthcare remains a prime target due to its valuable data and critical, low-downtime operations.
Legacy Systems and the Expanding Attack Surface
Legacy systems’ security vulnerabilities and incompatibility with modern technology create a poorly managed attack surface that hackers can exploit. Outdated systems have security gaps, incompatibility issues, and diminishing vendor support.
Reports and Resources: Cybersecurity Edition
Throughout the month we have taken on cybersecurity subjects that continue to be challenging in healthcare today and ask our experts to weigh in. We have rounded up some reports and resources from around the industry that are focused on privacy, security, and cyber issues.
Cybersecurity, Privacy, and HIPAA Playlist
Each year October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month. This is our playlist we have compiled with episodes that focus on cybersecurity, privacy, and HIPAA in Healthcare.
ICYMI – Our other Friday Fives.
