“Attacks on the Healthcare System at the Time of Covid-19” (The Gaps in Security, Regulatory Compliance and Awareness of Healthcare Workers) is an Italian 22-page white paper that examines the main security issues facing health compliance regulations, as well as the benefits of security awareness training for the entire workforce.
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On April 4, 2020, Interpol launched an alarm to all police departments of the 27 countries of the European Union, on the increase in cyber attacks on healthcare facilities. The alarm followed the one raised in mid-March by the British agency NCSC (National Cyber Security Center).
On 23 April 2020, the World Health Organization publicly declared a dramatic increase in the number of cyber attacks directed to its staff via e-mail: over 450 users and passwords of WHO staff were disclosed online, along with thousands of third-party addresses relating to external parties who collaborate on the response to Covid-19.
The healthcare industry is a primary target for cybercriminals. PHI (Protected Health Information) are worth thousands of euros on the black market: healthcare is therefore seen as a golden goose.
The growing use of connected medical devices, equipment and other IoT devices, has seen a significant increase in attacks mainly based on the ingenuity of healthcare personnel and normally carried out by sending emails that require the opening of links or attachments, causing the installation of Ransomware within the network of the entire healthcare facility.
This white paper examines the main safety issues facing industry and health compliance regulations, as well as the benefits of safety awareness training for the entire workforce.
A special chapter is also dedicated to the situation in Italy, which has recorded numerous attack attempts to several national healthcare structures.