Targeted cyber attacks on health data amid the COVID-19 outbreak: insights from the Moving Target Defences (MTD) perspective / Intan Salwani Mohamed, Nurul Farah Aini and Sharina Tajul Urus

Following the COVID-19 outbreak, the healthcare industry has increasingly been subjected to intricate and organised cyberattacks. Cybercriminals capitalise on the circumstances; healthcare operations, which operate continuously, have become principal targets. Examining the determinants that affect cyberattacks on health data is essential to avert data breaches and enhance cybersecurity. This study investigated four factors that may have led to cyberattacks on health data during the COVID-19 pandemic: vulnerability of cybersecurity defences (VOCD), a rich source of valuable health data (RSOVHD), rapid technological advancement (RTA), and employee behaviour (EB). Data was collected through a questionnaire survey distributed to selected private and public healthcare facilities in Malaysia. The hypotheses were tested using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 and SmartPLS version 4. The findings of this study revealed that the vulnerability of cybersecurity defences (VOCD) and the rich source of valuable health data (RSOVHD) significantly led to cyberattacks against health data (CYB). However, rapid technological advancement (RTA) and employee behaviour (EB) did not significantly lead to cyberattacks against health data. This study contributed to the knowledge of cyberattacks against health data, particularly in Malaysia.