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The healthcare industry has undergone some major changes in the past decade. The good news is that almost all those changes have contributed to the betterment of the industry with both medical facilities and patients being the beneficiaries.

However, there are some newfound vulnerabilities too; examples include cybersecurity threats. The section below talks about the most common cybersecurity threats faced by the healthcare industry.

Ransomware

Ransomware is a kind of malware known for infecting files and systems and making them inaccessible to the owner until he pays a ransom. This medical security issue can be triggered in one or more of the following ways:

• Through a phishing email containing malicious attachments
• Upon clicking malicious links
• As a result of viewing advertisements containing malware (the phenomenon is referred to as malvertising)

Data Breach

It has become extremely common for hospitals to become victims of data breaches. A recent survey has revealed that healthcare organizations are bigger victims of this cybersecurity issue than any other public or private sector company.

There are several criminal activities for which unscrupulous individuals can use the patients’ data. However, the most common ones among them are:

Leveraging information on particular terminal illnesses or major diseases

Carrying out long-term identity theft

DDoS Attacks

DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks are widely used by cybercriminals and hacktivists for overwhelming networks until they become completely inoperable. A DDoS attack can make life difficult for medical practitioners who cannot offer adequate patient care without accessing the compromised network. Problems may also arise when a healthcare provider fails to receive and send emails, records, data, and prescriptions as a result of not having a running Internet connection following a DDoS attack. 

If you want to protect your medical center from falling prey to any of the above cybersecurity issues, get in touch with Asimily. They will help you in overcoming such security and risk management challenges effortlessly.