Cyber breaches in Australia’s healthcare industry are rising fast compared to other sectors. Yet, this increasingly vulnerable sector stands apart given the dangers such attacks can pose to human life.
Cybercriminals are attracted by healthcare’s large attack surface, one filled with sharing vast amounts of sensitive, time-critical information over largely aging systems that aren’t cohesive . But despite this worrying rise in attacks and the ramifications, healthcare sector managers continue to resist new government measures requiring mandatory risk management programs and reporting.
Cost, of course, is the primary argument agencies are using against the new regulations. Yet this argument needs to be reframed through the lens of much larger financial losses suffered because of a cyber attack. For the truth is, costs of mitigation strategies are relatively minor when compared to the multimillion-dollar financial outlays generally involved with detecting, dealing with and then rectifying a cyber breach in its entirety.
Spiralling costs
There is no denying cyber attacks in healthcare are on the rise. During the 2020 calendar year, the Australian Cyber Security Centre…
