The Alarming Overlap Between Cybersecurity Preparedness and Patient Safety

This guest post was contributed by Mike Fuhrman, CEO of Omega Systems

When a cyberattack hits a healthcare organization, it doesn’t just disrupt operations—it puts lives on the line. In fact, nearly one in five healthcare leaders say a cyberattack has directly impacted their ability to deliver patient care in the past year.

Cyberattacks that delay lab results, force cancelled procedures or take core systems offline are becoming all too common in healthcare settings. Meanwhile, cybersecurity often remains a compliance exercise—driven by audits and regulatory oversight, rather than risk and resilience. 

Thus, a stark reality emerges: one with too many aging IT systems, too few IT resources and a whole lot of increasingly sophisticated hackers with their sights squared on the healthcare market. This dynamic has created a dangerous gap between perceived compliance and actual preparedness. 

The question becomes: how can healthcare leaders adapt their cybersecurity strategies before the next incident turns into a crisis of care? 

When Cyber Risk Becomes a Clinical Risk

Healthcare organizations often have a target on their backs because they are among the most data-rich and essential environments in the economy. In fact, 80% of healthcare organizations were targeted by at least one cyberattack in the last 12 months, with social engineering attacks (48%) and ransomware (34%) cited as the most dangerous threats. 

With attacks growing more frequent and sophisticated, the fallout is no longer limited to the IT department. Technical disruptions, such as a ransomware incident or phishing attack, now routinely interfere with core clinical functions—putting timely, effective patient care at risk. From hijacked electronic health records to delayed diagnostics, the consequences are no longer abstract. They’re real, immediate, and often life-altering. 

A stark example occurred recently when a ransomware attack on a National Health Service (NHS) provider in London was linked to a patient fatality. Internal investigators found that the attack had delayed critical care, potentially contributing to the individual's death. It marked one of the first public confirmations of a fatality connected to a cybersecurity incident in healthcare—a dangerous inflection point for the industry.

In the U.S., more than half (52%) of healthcare leaders believe a fatal cyber-related incident is inevitable within the next five years. But despite years of warnings and increased regulatory pressure, meaningful progress towards stronger cybersecurity readiness remains somewhat elusive. 

Outdated Systems and Thin Teams Leave Patient Care Exposed

Many healthcare organizations are protecting critical systems with aging infrastructure and overextended teams. Sixty-three percent manage cybersecurity entirely in-house, often tasking the same individuals with both day-to-day IT operations and security strategy. Nearly a quarter say they are understaffed, and one in five question their ability to recover from a serious incident. It’s a fragile setup—one that leaves little margin for error in environments where downtime can directly impact patient care.

Legacy technology often compounds the problem. Many providers still rely on aging systems that can’t keep pace with today’s attack velocity or support essential defenses like multi-factor authentication (MFA), real-time patching, or continuous monitoring. More than half (56%) of healthcare leaders say outdated infrastructure would slow breach recovery—yet budget constraints and interoperability requirements often delay necessary upgrades.

Human factors add another layer of risk. Clinicians and administrators are motivated by a mission to help patients and keep care moving, which makes them more susceptible to social engineering attacks. AI-driven phishing, smishing, and deepfakes exploit this instinct to trust and respond quickly—sometimes with a single click that can trigger a cascading network-wide outage.

In an environment where one compromised account or unpatched system can halt operations and put lives at risk, the healthcare industry’s defenses remain dangerously thin. To thrive, organizations must move beyond reactive security and IT compliance checkbox activities and explore strategies that build true resilience. 

Three Steps to Address Healthcare’s Cybersecurity Gaps

1. Invest in skilled people and modern tools.Resilience starts with talent and technology. Healthcare organizations need professionals (whether in-house or outsourced) who understand the complexity of hybrid environments—supported by automation, advanced detection, and 24x7 monitoring capabilities.

2. Operationalize cybersecurity beyond compliance.Check-the-box security isn’t enough to stop today’s prevalent attacks. Risk assessments, live incident response drills, and real-time monitoring should be embedded into daily operations. And clear accountability—not just in IT, but across leadership—is essential.

3. Leverage MSSPs to extend your security effectiveness.Even strong internal teams often need support to keep up with today’s 24/7 threat landscape. Managed security service providers (MSSPs) can fill key gaps—delivering specialized knowledge, rapid incident response, and compliance guidance at scale. For organizations constrained by hiring gaps or legacy technology, an MSSP partnership can accelerate security maturity without leaving core defenses exposed.

A New Approach: From Checklists to Resilience

Regulation will always be part of the healthcare landscape—and it's likely to become even more complex. But even the most rigorous compliance frameworks can’t stop an attack on their own. 

What healthcare organizations truly need is greater readiness. That means treating cybersecurity as mission-critical infrastructure—not just an IT function or audit requirement. It means modernizing outdated systems, investing in skilled talent, and embedding security into daily clinical operations. And it means partnering with trusted MSSPs who can bring 24/7 visibility, rapid response, and deep expertise to the table.

With the right structure in place, healthcare organizations can bridge the gap between regulation and resilience—keeping systems online, care uninterrupted, and patients safe.