Cybersecurity In Focus

Improving cybersecurity despite resource challenges requires small healthcare providers to pull many support levers. "We need to move away from the idea that each rural hospital is solving these issues alone," says one infosec leader.

The Senate Intelligence Committee's annual worldwide threats hearing touched on how U.S. defense agencies must partner with healthcare and other industries to neutralize threats from Volt Typhoon, Salt Typhoon and others. 

A privacy and security expert discusses how small and rural hospitals can move beyond past IT mistakes and implement zero-trust strategies that quickly improve their cybersecurity postures.

More tech companies, and the government, are needed to address rural healthcare cyberattacks, according to the new Microsoft rural hospital cybersecurity landscape report. 

Tech CISO Scott Mattila discusses proactive measures critical to reducing cyber-risks and describes the steps hospitals and health systems can take to prepare now to comply with crucial mandates. He also highlights the new rule's impact of direct liability on business associates.

Automation and emerging technologies may accelerate efficiencies but can also add to IT burdens. Careful planning, testing and frameworks are a must to avoid creating new security problems, say panelists at HIMSS25.

Now is the time to get involved with the Healthcare and Public Health Sector Coordinating Council's strategic plan to upgrade cybersecurity from critical to stable condition, says Chris Tyberg, HSCC executive committee chair.

Budget bumps have led to better security tools, but the growing use of artificial intelligence requires more focus and investments from organizations. HIMSS25 attendees can learn more at the preconference Healthcare Cybersecurity Forum.

Even as the number of impacted individuals has been again revised upward, industry leaders say there are silver-lining lessons to learn from the incident about security frameworks, third-party risk and basic cyber hygiene.