More devices than ever inside hospitals require an internet connection, everything from MRI machines and health records to heart rate monitors. The latest and best equipment can speed up and improve patient care, but connection comes with risk. “If you can’t afford to protect it, you can’t afford to connect it,” said Beau Woods , a cybersecurity expert and founder of Stratigos Security.
Keeping up with the latest cybersecurity tools can be expensive, but it’s crucial for hospitals big and small. They’ve recently become prime targets for malicious hackers because of valuable patient data that can be sold or held for ransom. These attacks on health care organizations can be financially crippling, but the costs can go further.
Federal reports and studies show cyberattacks slow doctors’ ability to treat patients and can even force hospitals to send patients elsewhere for treatment, delaying care and putting patients’ lives at risk during events such as strokes. Cyberattacks against the U.S.
health care sector more than doubled between 2022 and 2023, according to the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center. In February, a devastating attack on Change Healthcare, a company that processes health care payments, wreaked havoc across the U.S.
Pharmacies couldn’t verify and process prescriptions, and doctors were unable to bill insurers or look up patients’ medical histories. In May, a ransomware attack hit Ascension, a Catholic health system with 140 hospitals .