Mitigating cyber risks in healthcare: Leveraging historical data for future protection

Abstract

The healthcare sector and its cyber infrastructure are critical to modern healthcare administration because they enable health services to run seamlessly and effectively. In recent years, the sector’s attack surface has expanded considerably due to the ongoing integration of complex medical devices, Internet of Things technologies, and other digital systems. The growth in interconnectivity has made the sector more vulnerable to cyberattacks, which, in most cases, originate from compromised cyber assets within healthcare environments. In this study, we leveraged a database-driven approach that captures past cyber incidents in healthcare, using them as a foundation for sustainable risk management cybersecurity practices. To achieve that, we proposed a model and customized it based on the needs of Baze University Hospital (BUH), which serves as the use case for this study. Our proposed model consists of five phases (scope definition, asset identification, threat identification, vulnerability identification, and risk determination) based on cross-referencing applicable components of the ISO 27000 series and the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework. Our results present a comprehensive risk ranking register for BUH, where we identified high-risk cyber assets along with their associated threats, vulnerabilities, and corresponding controls to mitigate these risks.