Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Increased Cybersecurity Risk across the Healthcare Industry

Powered by

All the vital news, analysis, and commentary curated by our industry experts.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased cyber risk significantly, with certain situations being exploited by malicious actors during the crisis. This includes a rush to utilize remote working with little time to plan or train employees, a high demand for personal protective equipment (PPE), lockdown measures, reduced mobility, and increased fear and anxiety among the public. This case study contains a review of the rise in cyber attacks on the healthcare industry seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, with examples of attacks on biopharmaceutical and research companies, hospitals, payers, and other healthcare providers.

Scope

This case study contains the following:

A review of why the healthcare industry is vulnerable to cyber attacks

An assessment of the increased risk of cyber attacks during the COVID-19 pandemic

An overview of what companies should do to combat the threat of cyber attacks

Examples of cyber attacks on hospitals, payers, and other healthcare providers

Examples of cyber attacks on biopharmaceutical and research companies

Examples of cybersecurity provider responses to the pandemic

Key Highlights

Hospitals and healthcare providers are particularly vulnerable to attacks. For most hospitals and other healthcare providers, focus and resources during the COVID-19 healthcare emergency have been on fighting the pandemic. Unfortunately, this means that many have been left vulnerable to cynical cyber attacks. Smaller organizations or those that have not invested in cybersecurity could be particularly vulnerable to attacks. These vulnerabilities will only be heightened further with increased use of virtual care and connected devices during the pandemic, such as telemedicine and remote patient monitoring. Healthcare providers need to ensure that basic measures are in place to minimize risk and disruption from cyber attacks.

Hospitals and healthcare providers will be supported by the cybersecurity community during the pandemic. Initiatives by leading cybersecurity companies will help keep many hospitals and healthcare providers safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing them to focus on saving lives. This crisis has highlighted serious gaps in cybersecurity measures undertaken by many healthcare organizations. Criminals will continue to exploit these once the pandemic has abated. Hospitals and providers will need to invest in stronger post-COVID cybersecurity strategies to prevent these attacks in the future.

Biopharmaceutical and research companies are prime targets for cyber criminals. The biopharmaceutical and research industries are key targets for state-sponsored groups looking to steal IP and other valuable information, as well as from hacktivists. While some hackers have stated they will not target healthcare providers during the pandemic for ethical reasons, biopharmaceutical and research companies are unlikely to be spared from cyber attacks. Research institutes are particularly vulnerable to attacks as they are smaller organizations with less resources and funding to focus on cybersecurity. The fact that Russia has recently approved the first COVID-19 vaccine should be of considerable concern to those working in the field, and research institutes need to improve their cybersecurity measures significantly.

The biopharmaceutical industry was investing in cybersecurity prior to the pandemic. While recent examples show that research institutes are vulnerable to attacks, the biopharmaceutical industry was already investing in this technology prior to the pandemic, with plans to increase spend even more in this area in the future. Compared to research institutes, the biopharmaceutical industry is probably better prepared for a cyber attack. However, companies need to continue to train and educate staff on cybersecurity best practices, especially as remote working becomes the norm.

Reasons to Buy

Get an overview of why the healthcare industry is vulnerable to cyber attacks and what companies should do to combat risk.

See examples of cyber attacks across the healthcare industry and what these companies did in response to these.

See what cybersecurity providers are responding to the pandemic by providing support to the healthcare industry.

Merck Inc.
National Health Service (NHS)
Abbott
Anthem
Boston Children's Hospital
World Health Organization (WHO)
US Department of Health and Human Services
Magellan Health
Independence Blue Cross
AmeriHealth New Jersey
Hammersmith Medicines Research Inc.
University of California San Francisco (UCSF)
CyberPeace Initiative

Table of Contents

Summary

Why Is the Healthcare Industry Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks?

• Access to Sensitive Data Leaves the Industry Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks

• Cyber Attacks Can Have Devastating and Long-lasting Consequences

• NHS: WannaCry Cyber Attack Led to Widespread Appointment Cancellations

• FDA Recalls Abbott’s Pacemakers Due to Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities

• Boston Children’s Hospital: Anonymous DDoS Attack Disrupted Patient Care

• Merck: NotPetya Cybersecurity Attack on Global Operations

• Anthem: Email Phishing Cyber Attack Caused Huge Data Breach

Increased Risk of Cyber Attacks as a Result of COVID-19

• Lockdown Measures Are Being Exploited During the Pandemic

• Remote Working is Here to Stay

• Demand for Telemedicine Has Surged During the Pandemic

• Microsoft Reports Vulnerabilities in Its VPN Appliances Have Been Exploited During the Pandemic

• Security Bodies Warned of Increased Risk of Cyber Attacks on the Healthcare Industry During COVID-19

• How Can the Healthcare Industry Combat the Threat of Cyber Attacks?

• The Need for Security Will Drive Spending Despite the Economic Impact of COVID-19

Cyber Attacks on Hospitals, Payers, and Other Healthcare Providers

• Hospitals and Healthcare Organizations Have Been Targeted by Cyber Attacks During the Pandemic

• The World Health Organization

• US Department of Health and Human Services

• Illinois Public Health Agency

• The Affordacare Urgent Care Clinic in Texas

• Brno University Hospital

• Assistance Publique – Hopitaux de Paris

• Magellan Health

• Blue Cross and AmeriHealth

Cyber Attacks on the Biopharmaceutical and Research Industry

• Biopharmaceutical Companies and Research Institutes are Currently Major Targets of Cyber Attacks

• National Security Warnings Issues About Chinese and Russian Cyber Attacks Targeting COVID-19 Research

• Hammersmith Medicines Research Maze Ransomware Attack

• University of California, San Francisco NetWalker Attack

• Cybersecurity Is a Leading Emerging Technology for Pharma

• Pharma Spend on Cybersecurity Expected to Increase in the Future

Cybersecurity Vendor Response to the Pandemic

• Cybersecurity Alliances and Companies Are Providing Support to Healthcare Providers in Response to the Pandemic

• The Cyber4Healthcare Initiative

• The Cyber Alliance to Defend our Healthcare

• Other Cybersecurity Resources Available to Healthcare Providers During the Pandemic

Key Takeaways

Appendix

• Methodology

• Our Thematic Research Methodology

• Abbreviations

• Related Reports

• Bibliography

• About the Authors

• About GlobalData

Frequently asked questions

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Increased Cybersecurity Risk across the Healthcare Industry thematic reports
Currency USD
$495

Can be used by individual purchaser only

$995

Can be shared globally by unlimited users within the purchasing corporation e.g. all employees of a single company


Undecided about purchasing this report?

Enquire Before Buying Request a Free Sample

Get in touch to find out about multi-purchase discounts

reportstore@globaldata.com
Tel +44 20 7947 2745

Every customer’s requirement is unique. With over 220,000 construction projects tracked, we can create a tailored dataset for you based on the types of projects you are looking for. Please get in touch with your specific requirements and we can send you a quote.

Sample Report

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Increased Cybersecurity Risk across the Healthcare Industry was curated by the best experts in the industry and we are confident about its unique quality. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer free sample pages to help you:

  • Assess the relevance of the report
  • Evaluate the quality of the report
  • Justify the cost

Download your copy of the sample report and make an informed decision about whether the full report will provide you with the insights and information you need.

Below is a sample report to understand what you are buying

See what our customers are saying

“The GlobalData platform is our go-to tool for intelligence services. GlobalData provides an easy way to access comprehensive intelligence data around multiple sectors, which essentially makes it a one-for-all intelligence platform, for tendering and approaching customers.

GlobalData is very customer orientated, with a high degree of personalised services, which benefits everyday use. The highly detailed project intelligence and forecast reports can be utilised across multiple departments and workflow scopes, from operational to strategic level, and often support strategic decisions. GlobalData Analytics and visualisation solutions has contributed positively when preparing management presentations and strategic papers.”

Business Intelligence & Marketing Manager, SAL Heavy Lift

“COVID-19 has caused significant interference to our business and the COVID-19 intelligence from GlobalData has helped us reach better decisions around strategy. These two highlights have helped enormously to understand the projections into the future concerning our business units, we also utilise the project database to source new projects for Liebherr-Werk to use as an additional source to pitch for new business.”

Market Analyst & Management, Liebherr-Werk

Your daily news has saved me a lot of time and keeps me up-to-date with what is happening in the market, I like that you almost always have a link to the source origin. We also use your market data in our Strategic Business Process to support our business decisions. By having everything in one place on the Intelligence Center it has saved me a lot of time versus looking on different sources, the alert function also helps with this.

Head of Key Accounts, Saab AB

Having used several other market research companies, I find that GlobalData manages to provide that ‘difficult-to-get’ market data that others can’t, as well as very diverse and complete consumer surveys.

Marketing Intelligence Manager, Portugal Foods

Our experience with GlobalData has been very good, from the platform itself to the people. I find that the analysts and the account team have a high level of customer focus and responsiveness and therefore I can always rely on. The platform is more holistic than other providers. It is convenient and almost like a one stop shop. The pricing suite is highly competitive and value for our organisation.

I like reports that inform new segments such as the analysis on generation Z, millennials, the impact of COVID 19 to our banking customers and their new channel habits. Secondly the specialist insight on affluent sector significantly increases our understanding about this group of customers. The combination of those give us depth and breadth of the evolving market.

I’m in the business of answering and helping people make decisions so with the intelligence center I can do that, effectively and efficiently. I can share quickly key insights that answer and satisfy our country stakeholders by giving them many quality studies and primary research about competitive landscape beyond the outlook of our bank. It helps me be seen as an advisory partner and that makes a big difference. A big benefit of our subscription is that no one holds the whole data and because it allows so many people, so many different parts of our organisation have access, it enables all teams to have the same level of knowledge and decision support.

Head of Customer Insight and Research, Standard Chartered

“I know that I can always rely on Globaldata’s work when I’m searching for the right consumer and market insights. I use Globaldata insights to understand the changing market & consumer landscape and help create better taste & wellbeing solutions for our customers in food, beverage and healthcare industries.

Globaldata has the right data and the reports are of very high quality compared to your competitors. Globaldata not only has overall market sizes & consumer insights on food & beverages but also provides insights at the ingredient & flavour level. That is key for B2B companies like Givaudan. This way we understand our customers’ business and also gain insight to our unique industry”

Head of Consumer Sensory Insights, Givaudan

GlobalData provides a great range of information and reports on various sectors that is highly relevant, timely, easy to access and utilise.  The reports and data dashboards help engagement with clients; they provide valuable industry and market insights that can enrich client conversations and can help in the shaping of value propositions. Moreover, using GlobalData products has helped increase my knowledge of the finance sector, the players within it, and the general threats and opportunities.

I find the consumer surveys that are carried out to be extremely beneficial and not something I have seen anywhere else. They provided an insightful view of why and which consumers take (or don’t) particular financial products. This can help shape conversations with clients to ensure they make the right strategic decisions for their business.

One of the challenges I have found is that data in the payments space is often piecemeal. With GD all of the data I need is in one place, but it also comes with additional market reports that provide useful extra context and information. Having the ability to set-up alerts on relevant movements in the industry, be it competitors or customers, and have them emailed directly to me, ensures I get early sight of industry activity and don’t have to search for news.

Senior Account Manager, TSYS
Go even deeper with GlobalData Intelligence Center

Every Company Report we produce is powered by the GlobalData Intelligence Center.

Subscribing to our intelligence platform means you can monitor developments at Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Increased Cybersecurity Risk across the Healthcare Industry in real time.

  • Access a live Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Increased Cybersecurity Risk across the Healthcare Industry dashboard for 12 months, with up-to-the-minute insights.
  • Fuel your decision making with real-time deal coverage and media activity.
  • Turn insights on financials, deals, products and pipelines into powerful agents of commercial advantage.