As healthcare organizations increasingly digitize their operations and patient records, cybersecurity has become a paramount concern. Recent reports to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) showed that healthcare data breaches reached an all-time high in 2024. There were 14 data breaches involving more than 1 million healthcare records, affecting 237,986,282 U.S. residents. This equated to approximately 69.97% of the nation’s population.
This unprecedented surge, fueled by sophisticated cyberattacks like ransomware and phishing, underscores the urgent need for robust defenses to safeguard sensitive protected health information (PHI). These breaches not only threaten patient privacy but also disrupt clinical operations, potentially delaying critical care delivery.
In this guide, we examine the current cybersecurity issues in healthcare, exploring major threats, challenges, and essential risk management strategies and best practices to protect your sensitive patient information and ensure uninterrupted care delivery.
The healthcare industry faces a rapidly evolving cybersecurity landscape, characterized by rapidly sophisticated threats and a complex regulatory environment. Ransomware attacks targeting hospitals and clinics have surged. According to the 2025 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), the healthcare sector experienced 1,710 security incidents, with 1,542 confirmed data disclosures. System intrusions—including ransomware and espionage—have emerged as major concerns.
Phishing attempts specifically developed for healthcare professionals are now alarmingly common. For 2024, the HHS OCR Breach Portal report—known by many as the "OCR Wall of Shame"—shows 79 healthcare providers were targeted by emails involving hacking/IT incidents and unauthorized access/disclosures. These attacks affected patients ranging from 500 for some facilities to 464,159 for a single organization. And these were only the incidents that were reported.
Statistics from the 2025 statistics OCR Breach Portal are concerning: There have been 39 incidents involving healthcare providers from January 1 through April 23. Of these, the number of affected individuals ranges from 515 to 494,326 per facility.
These attacks can be very costly. IBM’s 2024 Cost of a Data Breach Report demonstrated that phishing-related breaches cost an average of USD $9.77 million per incident in the healthcare sector alone, making the healthcare sector one of the most financially impacted industries by cyberattacks.
This surge in cyber threats coincides with the widespread adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) and Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) devices. These technologies have transformed healthcare, enabling seamless data sharing, real-time patient monitoring, and improved operational efficiency. EHRs centralize PHI, streamlining clinical workflows, while IoMT devices—such as connected pacemakers, infusion pumps, and diagnostic equipment—enhance remote care and diagnostics.
However, these advancements significantly expand the attack surface, exposing healthcare organizations to sophisticated cyberattacks, including phishing, ransomware, and exploits targeting IoMT vulnerabilities. While these technologies offer tremendous benefits for patient care and greater overall efficiency, they create new security demands for healthcare organizations, Failure to secure these new technologies greatly increases the risk of data breaches and violation of healthcare industry regulations. Compliance failures could result in serious fines or other penalties.
Maintating compliance can be difficult. Global organizations must navigate a web of requirements, including the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for entities handling European Union (EU) citizens' data, Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), and Australia’s Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme under the Privacy Act 1988. All of these regulations mandate strict data protection measures.
The penalties for non-compliance can be stiff. In 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights (HHS OCR) issued USD $12.84 million in fines to healthcare providers for HIPAA violations related to data breaches. For HIPAA criminal violations, the minimum fine is USD $50,000, with the maximum reaching $250,000 for those violations made by an individual. The guilty party may have to pay restitution, and there is potential prison time based on the level of the violation. Civil monetary penalties range from USD $141 to $2,134,831 per violation.
Similarly, GDPR requires stringent data protection measures, such as encryption and breach notification within 72 hours, with penalties reaching €20 million or 4% of annual global turnover, whichever is higher. Frameworks like Canada’s PIPEDA govern healthcare data with requirements for consent and data minimization, and carry fines up to CAD $100,000 per violation. In Australia, the NDB framework mandates penalties proposed under new 2024 Privacy Act amendments of up to AUD $50 million or 30% of annual turnover for serious breaches.
To avoid these sanctions, it is of utmost importance for your organization to take comprehensive cybersecurity preparation measures and maintain hyper vigilance over the entire attack surface.
The healthcare industry faces a complex array of cybersecurity threats that jeopardize patient care and system integrity. The following ongoing dangers work to exploit vulnerabilities to disrupt operations and steal sensitive data, and pose significant risks to an organization’s systems. Further compromises to today’s medical devices create access points for attackers, threatening patient safety.
Phishing Attacks: Phishing remains one of the most prevalent and dangerous threats to your healthcare organization. In their 2024 Healthcare Cybersecurity Survey conducted in November and December 2024, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) discovered number of security incidents involving the following phishing forms:
General email phishing - 63%
SMS phishing - 34%
Spear phishing - 34%
Business email compromise (BEC) - 31%
Phishing websites - 21%
Malicious ads - 20%
Social media phishing - 19%
Vishing (voicemail phishing) - 17%
Whaling (also known as executive impersonation) - 16%
Phishing’s prominence as a leading cybersecurity threat to your healthcare organization underscores the urgent need for comprehensive defenses. The variety of phishing tactics demands robust employee training, advanced threat detection, and stringent access controls to protect sensitive patient data and ensure your regulatory compliance.
Ransomware and Malware: Ransomware and malware pose significant threats, with the potential to lock down entire hospital systems, disrupting critical patient care and exposing vast amounts of PHI. The healthcare sector is particularly vulnerable due to the life-or-death nature of its operations, making it an attractive target for cybercriminals.
In their 2024 report, the HHS’s Office of Information Security and the Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center (HC3) confirmed that attacks from groups such as LockBit, CIOp, ALPHV, and BianLian (among others) targeted more than 460 U.S. healthcare organizations. In one major attack on a large hospital network, in excess of 500,000 patients suffered impacts such as delays in care, appointment cancelations, and ambulance diversions. EHR were knocked offline, requiring a switch to paper records. Payroll and patient portals were disrupted. All told, the damages were estimated at USD $100 million.
Insider Threats: Insider threats, whether stemming from intentional misconduct or unintentional errors, represent a critical risk to healthcare organizations. Employees, contractors, and third party vendors with access to sensitive systems—such as EHRs containing PHI—can compromise security through negligent data handling, unauthorized disclosures, or malicious actions. These threats amplify the vulnerability of healthcare’s expanding attack surface, driven by the adoption of EHRs and IoMT devices.
The consequences of insider-related incidents are severe, including data breaches, operational disruptions, and regulatory penalties under HIPAA, the GDPR, PIPEDA, NDB, and other global frameworks. To mitigate these risks, healthcare organizations must implement stringent access controls, robust monitoring systems, and comprehensive security awareness training tailored to their high-pressure environments.
Compromised Medical Devices: Expanding connectivity of medical equipment such as IV infusion pumps, imaging devices, and patient monitors has revolutionized healthcare by enabling real-time data integration and remote patient care. These IoMT devices connect to EHRs and hospital networks, enhancing clinical efficiency and patient outcomes.
However, this connectivity adds significant cybersecurity risks, creating new attack vectors for threat actors. Many IoMT devices run outdated software or lack robust encryption, making them vulnerable to exploits. For example, unpatched systems can be compromised through phishing attacks or direct network intrusions, potentially exposing data stored in EHRs. Such vulnerabilities not only risk data breaches but also threaten patient safety, as hackers have the potential to manipulate devices to alter medication dosages or falsify vital signs, leading to severe or even fatal clinical consequences.
It’s clear from various cyber tactics that healthcare organizations face far-reaching cybersecurity challenges. Ransomware, malware, insider threats, and other types of attack are compounded by challenges inherent in areas of your organization. Addressing these issues is also critical to protecting the security and integrity of your healthcare system from the expanding miscellany of attacks. Are the following hurdles affecting you and your organization?
Outdated Systems and Legacy Software: Many healthcare systems run older technologies that often lack the necessary security updates required to protect critical enteprise data from modern attacks. To mitigate this vulnerability, your healthcare organization must enforce regular software updates, on user machines, in the data center and in the cloud. Old hardware that was not designed for the modern threat environment must be retired and replaced with contemporary technology. Failure to address these vulnerabilities could lead to costly data breaches, regulatory penalties, and harm to patients.
Budget Constraints: Healthcare providers often face tight financial restrictions. Limited financial resources often force organizations to prioritize immediate operational needs over robust security measures. This approach to cybersecurity and leave gaps in defenses against sophisticated threats. Without adequate funding, healthcare entities face heightened exposure to cyberattacks, underscoring the need for strategic resource allocation to balance fiscal limitations with comprehensive cybersecurity protection.
Complex Regulatory Compliance: Navigating various healthcare-related laws while ensuring information security is a significant challenge. Your compliance with regulations like HIPAA, GDPR, PIPEDA, or NDB requires a comprehensive understanding of their requirements and the implementation of robust data protection measures. Failure to do so can result in substantial fines or penalties or even prison time should a security breach occur.
Third Party Risks: Your healthcare organization often depends on a complex network of third-party vendors and partners, many of whom have access to sensitive data or critical systems, such as EHRs. These third parties, if not properly vetted, can introduce substantial cybersecurity risks, acting as weak links that compromise the overall security chain. Ensuring the cybersecurity posture of these partners is critical, requiring rigorous vendor risk assessments, contractual security obligations, and ongoing monitoring to align with regulation frameworks. By prioritizing third-party security, you can mitigate risk and safeguard patient data.
Scalability and Cloud Adoption Challenges: The migration of healthcare providers to cloud environments offers substantial benefits, such as enhanced scalability and streamlined access to EHRs. But it introduces complex cybersecurity challen. As healthcare organizations work to scale cloud resources to handle patient data or new digital services, they often integrate disparate systems—like outdated EMR platforms and IoMT devices—and risk security gaps that can enable phishing or direct intrusions to take place. These scalability problems heighten the difficulties in safeguarding PHI. To balance the advantages of cloud computing, healthcare organizations must implement rigorous security measures, including multi-factor authentication (MFA), regular audits, and advanced threat detection.
Cloud technologies have revolutionized enterprise computing across industries. As healthcare organizations follow this trend and steadily migrate data and services to the cloud, they must navigate a new set of cybersecurity issues to protect medical data in the cloud.
Indeed, this shift introduces complex cybersecurity problems that your healthcare organization must address to protect sensitive patient data. Misconfigurations, such as improperly secured cloud storage or unencrypted databases, are a leading cause of cloud-based data breaches, exposing organizations to unauthorized access and exploitation. . For example, in 2025, a major U.S. health insurance provider inadvertently exposed 4.7 million customer PHI records over a three-year period due to a misconfigured cloud storage bucket.
Insufficient access controls exacerbate these risks, as overly relaxed user permissions can allow threat actors or negligent or malicious insiders to compromise critical systems. The lack of visibility into full cloud estate of an enterprise further complicates security efforts, making it difficult to detect irregularities or enforce regulatory compliance.
Effective cybersecurity in healthcare hinges on a comprehensive risk management strategy that addresses the sector’s unique vulnerabilities, such as interconnected medical devices and sensitive patient data. Here are some crucial recommendations for risk management and best practices for you to consider when addressing your healthcare cybersecurity challenges.
Incident Response Planning: Develop a formalized strategy for responding to data breaches and cyber threats. Conduct regular tabletop exercises to ensure readiness and minimize the impact of security incidents. This proactive strategy enables swift recovery and strengthens cyber resilience against evolving risks.
Network Segmentation: Isolate critical systems (medical devices, patient records) to limit lateral movement and protect sensitive data. This approach enhances security by restricting unauthorized access and containing potential breaches within segmented network zones.
Access Controls and Authentication: Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) and regularly audit privileged accounts to secure access to sensitive systems. These measures ensure only legitimate personnel can interact with critical data, significantly reducing the risk of unauthorized access or data breaches.
Data Protection and Backups: Use secure cloud solutions for offsite data copies, encryption, and immutable storage. These are key components of any system designed to protect medical data in the cloud. The benefits of a hybrid backup solution and the challenges of backing up unstructured data for systems like PACS should also be considered in any healthcare cybersecurity and backup solution. These healthcare network storage backups maintain operational continuity, protect patient data in the cloud or on-premises, and ensure quality care delivery.
Continuous Monitoring and Threat Detection: Monitor logs for unusual activity and leverage AI or behavioral analytics to detect anomalies in real time, both critical strategies for maintaining a strong security posture. These preemptive measures enable rapid identification and mitigation of potential threats, safeguarding sensitive healthcare data.
Employee Training and Awareness: Conduct crucial regular security awareness training for educating staff on identifying and reporting potential threats. By fostering a culture of security awareness, your healthcare organization can transform your employees from potential vulnerabilities into active participants in the fight against cyber threats.
Collaboration and Information Sharing: Participate in industry-specific information sharing and analysis centers (ISACs) to allow your organization to receive timely threat intelligence and collaborate on the development of industry-wide security standards.
Incident Response and Disaster Recovery: Develop a well-defined incident response plan. This is essential for minimizing the impact of a security breach or system outage. In addition to incident response, your healthcare organization must have robust disaster recovery and business continuity plans in place.
Addressing the cybersecurity challenges in healthcare requires a multifaceted approach that involves collaboration between healthcare providers, technology vendors, and government agencies. Key steps you should take include:
Prioritizing cybersecurity in budget allocations and strategic planning.
Investing in modern, secure infrastructure and retiring legacy systems.
Partnering with experienced cybersecurity vendors to augment in-house capabilities.
Providing ongoing security training and awareness programs for all staff.
Participating in industry-wide information sharing and collaboration initiatives.
By taking a proactive, comprehensive approach to cybersecurity, healthcare organizations can better protect patient data, maintain operational continuity, and focus on their primary mission of delivering quality care.
Take charge of your healthcare cybersecurity, and act to safeguard your patients’ data and ensure uninterrupted care. Contact Rubrik to learn more about our healthcare cybersecurity solutions.