The COVID-19 pandemic served as a massive catalyst for change within the healthcare industry, forcing a rapid reinvention of services that brought both innovation and unprecedented cybersecurity challenges. In 2020, long-standing, legacy security issues collided with a new wave of threats spurred directly by the global health crisis, placing immense pressure on already budget-strapped hospitals and healthcare providers.

Converging Threats: Old Vulnerabilities Meet New Dangers

The pandemic forced healthcare organizations to rapidly digitize services and roll out telehealth platforms on a massive scale. This hasty transition created new attack surfaces for malicious actors. At the same time, systemic security weaknesses that had long plagued the industry were exacerbated. The most significant threat has been a dramatic uptick in ransomware attacks, with cybercriminals targeting critical hospital systems, fully aware of the life-or-death pressure to pay ransoms and restore services. These attacks highlight the dangerous intersection of outdated infrastructure and the urgent need for modernization.

The Rise of Telehealth and Medical Espionage

Beyond ransomware, the mass migration to telehealth introduced a host of new security concerns related to protecting patient data on remote platforms. Securing these new digital channels became a top priority overnight. Furthermore, the global race for a cure and vaccines for COVID-19 gave rise to a new form of threat: medical espionage. Shadowy, sophisticated groups began targeting research institutions and pharmaceutical companies in a quest for competitive intelligence on vaccines and therapeutics. This highlights the need for healthcare security teams to implement robust best practices to protect not only patient data and providers but also critical intellectual property that impacts global health.