A Comprehensive Review of Cyber-Attacks in Healthcare

Healthcare systems are key components of national critical infrastructure thinking to support both medical services and the medical responder side of things, as well as long-term patient care. While clinical workflows were modernized with the adoption of digital technologies—including electronic health records (EHRs), telemedicine, Internet-connected medical devices, and cloud-based platforms—they have also expanded the attack surface for cybercriminals. Cyber-attacks on healthcare organizations have tripled over the past ten years, with it now being one of the most attacked sectors internationally. Such incidents can expose private information about patients, interrupt routine medical services, endanger patients, and prevent a country from responding properly in public health crises. This narrative review provides an overview of developments in healthcare cyber-attacks over the past decade (2009–2019); their adverse effects on patients, providers, and hospital infrastructure; and the techniques that attackers typically employ. The report also highlights some of the responses made by hospitals during prolonged outages of their systems and provides recommendations to improve hospital preparedness for such cyberattacks.