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As hospitals and healthcare providers race to digitise, cyber security has become inseparable from patient safety – for healthcare CISOs, defending data now means protecting lives.
Healthcare has always been about saving lives, but today, that mission depends on more than clinical skill – it depends on cyber security.
The shift from paper charts to digital platforms has transformed patient care, enabling faster decisions and better outcomes. However, that same transformation has made healthcare one of the most targeted sectors for cyber attacks. Ransomware gangs have learnt that when every minute counts, hospitals are more likely to pay. The result is a growing wave of attacks that not only disrupt vital systems but also put patient safety at direct risk.
For CISOs in healthcare, the priority is no longer just protecting data – it’s ensuring continuity of care. When a ransomware incident takes down radiology or patient monitoring systems, lives literally hang in the balance. That’s why cyber security strategies must be built around resilience: the ability to detect an incident, isolate it, and then recover without interrupting essential services.
Old tech, new threats
One of the biggest challenges lies in securing medical devices. Many run on outdated software, lack encryption, or can’t be patched easily because they’re certified medical equipment. Segmenting these devices from critical hospital networks is a first line of defence, but visibility is just as important.
You can’t protect what you can’t see. CISOs need comprehensive asset inventories, real-time monitoring, and tight coordination with biomedical engineering teams.
Data privacy is another pressure point. Healthcare organisations must protect sensitive patient information under regulations such as Australia’s Privacy Act, HIPAA in the US, and GDPR in Europe. Yet at the same time, clinicians need immediate access to that data to make lifesaving decisions. The balance between privacy and accessibility is delicate – and it demands secure-by-design systems, not quick compliance fixes.
The human element
Human error remains one of the biggest risks. Phishing emails, credential misuse, and social engineering continue to bypass technical defences. Regular training and awareness campaigns help, but the real goal is achieving cultural change. Everyone in the organisation – from surgeons to administrative staff – needs to understand their role in protecting patient data. Cyber security can’t be a separate department; it has to be part of the hospital’s DNA.
Incident response planning is another area where theory often fails under pressure. Healthcare environments can be chaotic at the best of times. When systems go down, panic can spread fast. CISOs should ensure their response playbooks are tested through realistic simulations that involve clinical, IT, and communications teams. Knowing who makes decisions and how to prioritise recovery is critical when seconds count.
Cloud adoption is also accelerating across the sector, offering better data sharing but also introducing new complexities. Cloud configurations, third-party service providers, and data residency requirements can create blind spots. Continuous auditing, strong access controls, and vendor risk management must be part of every deployment.
The bottom line
As a CISO, your message to boards and executives is simple: cyber security equals patient safety. Investing in protection, detection, and recovery capabilities isn’t just about avoiding fines or bad headlines – it’s about maintaining the trust of patients and the integrity of care.
A data breach can be repaired; a life lost cannot.
In an industry where compassion meets complexity, healthcare CISOs carry an extraordinary responsibility. Their role is to safeguard not only systems and records, but the people those systems serve and support.
In the modern hospital, every click, login, and connected device is part of the care pathway – and securing that pathway is as vital as the medicine itself.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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