“News that several procedures have been cancelled or redirected following a cyber-attack which affected major hospitals in London is a stark reminder of the importance of stringent cybersecurity measures in the healthcare industry.
The value of personal identifiable information held by the NHS cannot be underestimated, or how much of a target it makes the sector to actors who deal in such data on the dark web.
While it’s been reported that the health board in this case is urging the public to be alert for any attempts to access their work and personal data, I urge this action to start at the top, and for healthcare bosses to seriously appraise the systems they have in place to identify any potential vulnerabilities. We all understand resources are stretched for the NHS, but this is not an area to cut corners.
The healthcare sector is one of the most targeted industries globally. An average organisation faces more than 2,140 cyberattacks per week, with this latest incident closely following another high-profile ransomware attack on NHS Dumfries and Galloway in March.
While ensuring contingency planning is in place is vital, healthcare providers should urgently take preventative measures to protect patient data.
This can range from simple steps, such as making sure staff do not use weak or compromised passwords and checking software systems are updated automatically. But organisations should also have robust plans in place to both detect and eliminate malware within their systems, including measures to minimise the impact of a security breach, and ensure the response to an attack is as fast and effective as possible.”
Alan Stephenson-Brown is the Managing Director of Evolve Business Group:
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