By Joseph Funaro
The healthcare industry is under siege. According to the July 2023 Healthcare Data Breach Report in the HIPAA Journal “There was a 261% month-over-month increase in breached records in July, with 18,116,982 records breached across the 56 reported incidents”. The frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks targeting healthcare organizations have surged in recent years, leaving no institution immune.
Ransomware, data breaches, and other cyber threats are capitalizing on poorly managed solutions and outdated, legacy approaches to cybersecurity. While healthcare organizations scramble to adopt advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) for diagnostics and operational efficiencies, they risk overlooking a critical foundational issue: their connectivity infrastructure. Without addressing these vulnerabilities, the promise of technological advancements may be overshadowed by the harsh reality of compromised patient data and operational shutdowns.

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A perfect storm of threats
Healthcare’s cyber crisis stems from a confluence of factors. First, the sector has become a prime target for cybercriminals due to the high value of patient data on the black market. Electronic health records (EHRs) contain a treasure trove of information, including Social Security numbers, insurance details, and medical histories. When this data falls into the wrong hands, the consequences can be devastating, not just for organizations but for patients themselves.
Second, the sprawling nature of healthcare networks—which often span multiple facilities, remote clinics, and third-party vendors—compounds the risk. Each connection point represents a potential entry for attackers. Moreover, the reliance on legacy systems, some of which are decades old, creates significant vulnerabilities. These systems were not designed to withstand the sophisticated attack methods employed today, let alone emerging threats such as quantum cracking.
The looming quantum threat
Quantum computing, while promising unparalleled advancements in many fields, also poses a dire risk to cybersecurity. Current encryption standards, which underpin everything from patient data storage to secure communications, could become obsolete once quantum computers reach a certain level of capability. Known as quantum cracking, this threat means that data encrypted today could be decrypted tomorrow by a sufficiently advanced quantum machine. For healthcare organizations, which must retain sensitive data for years—or even decades—this is a ticking time bomb.