Cybersecurity Challenges for the Healthcare Industry

Updated July 2026

Healthcare organizations have always had a responsibility to protect patient information. But cybersecurity goes further than just protecting data. It’s about keeping care moving, protecting trust, and making sure the systems clinicians rely on are available when patients need them.

Healthcare organizations rely on digital systems to deliver care, manage operations, process payments, coordinate providers, and protect patient information. When those systems are compromised, the consequences can extend across the organization. Clinical workflows slow down, sensitive data is exposed, and critical services may become unavailable.

The healthcare industry remains a major target for cybercriminals. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has reported a significant increase in large healthcare breaches in recent years, while the FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report identified healthcare and public health as the most targeted sector for cyberthreats.

Healthcare leaders face a difficult balancing act. They must secure complex technology environments while improving patient experiences, supporting clinicians, controlling costs, modernizing infrastructure, and adopting new technologies such as AI. 

This post will dissect some of the most common cybersecurity threats in healthcare and the operational challenges that increase risk. Plus, we’ll offer a few tips for navigating the evolving world of Healthcare Information Technology (IT) in a way that is safe and secure for both patients and providers.  

Why Cybersecurity is So Challenging in Healthcare

Healthcare is a high-pressure environment. Providers need fast access to information, patients expect privacy, and organizations rely on connected systems for scheduling, billing, diagnostics, communication, treatment, and care coordination.

That makes cybersecurity complex.

A hospital, clinic, payer, or healthcare network may be managing electronic health records, connected medical devices, cloud platforms, third-party vendors, patient portals, legacy applications, and distributed teams all at once. Every system that stores, processes, or transmits sensitive data can become part of the security picture.

The result is a cybersecurity environment where technical risk and operational risk are deeply connected. A system outage can slow care. A stolen credential can expose protected health information. A poorly governed AI tool can create privacy, compliance, or data integrity concerns.

Common Cybersecurity Threats in Healthcare

Healthcare organizations face many of the same cyber threats as other industries, but the impact can be more serious because patient data, clinical workflows, and care delivery may be involved.

Let’s review six of the most common attacks and what they mean. 

Phishing

Phishing occurs when an attacker impersonates a trusted source to convince someone to reveal credentials, financial information, or other sensitive data.

These attacks commonly arrive through email, text messages, collaboration tools, or fake websites. A single compromised account can provide access to patient records, financial systems, or administrative platforms.

Healthcare employees often operate in fast-paced environments, which can make phishing attempts harder to identify during busy periods.

Malware

Malware is malicious software designed to damage systems, gather information, or gain unauthorized access to networks.

Common forms of malware include spyware, viruses, trojans, and other harmful programs that can affect workstations, servers, applications, and connected devices.

For healthcare organizations, malware can interrupt operations, reduce system availability, and create significant recovery costs.

Ransomware

Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts files or systems and demands payment in exchange for restoring access.

Healthcare organizations frequently face ransomware threats because downtime can affect patient care and disrupt critical operations. According to reporting based on the FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report, healthcare and public health experienced 460 ransomware attacks and 182 data breaches during 2025.

Theft of Patient Data

Patient information remains one of the most valuable assets targeted by cybercriminals.

Electronic health records can contain personal identifiers, insurance information, billing data, medical histories, and other protected information. Criminals may use stolen healthcare data for fraud, identity theft, insurance scams, or financial crimes.

Organizations need strong controls around data access, storage, movement, and retention to reduce exposure.

Insider Risk

Insider incidents involve employees, contractors, vendors, or former workers who have access to systems and information.

Some incidents are intentional, while others result from mistakes, poor security practices, or lack of training. Excessive permissions, weak access controls, and inconsistent processes can increase the likelihood of insider-related incidents.

Healthcare organizations must balance security requirements with the need for timely access to information across clinical and operational workflows.

Hacked IoT Devices

Internet of Things (IoT) devices can connect wirelessly to a network and are used to transmit data. Healthcare environments contain a growing number of these connected devices, including monitoring systems, diagnostic equipment, mobile devices, and facility management technologies.

Each connected device expands the organization’s attack surface. Unpatched software, unsupported devices, weak authentication, and poor asset visibility can all introduce security vulnerabilities.

Strong device management, inventory tracking, and monitoring processes help reduce risk.

Healthcare Cybersecurity Challenges 

Many cyber incidents stem from broader operational and technology challenges rather than a single security failure. As healthcare leans on IT at an increasing rate, providers and their systems will have to work diligently to stay on top of emerging threats. While the landscape for cyber attacks is constantly evolving, let’s take a deeper look at some of the biggest challenges that healthcare systems currently face.

Legacy Systems 

The term legacy system refers to any technology or software that is old, outdated, or obsolete, but continues to be used.  

Beyond being slow or outdated, legacy systems pose a serious security threat, and the persistence of legacy systems is rampant throughout the healthcare industry as just 9% of all healthcare systems have prioritized legacy system removal as part of their cybersecurity plan.  

Legacy systems are a major threat, primarily because older technologies receive less manufacturer or provider support. It’s like when a device goes out of warranty, and you’re no longer eligible for free repairs. Or when a part is discontinued, and you can’t get the necessary replacement to have the machine back up and running. 

When manufacturers or providers have rolled out newer generations of a system or software, the support for older generations is going to decline. And that support includes cybersecurity patches and upgrades that are necessary for keeping these systems secure. 

To put it simply, compared to newer systems or software, legacy systems 1) are far more vulnerable and exposed to cyber threats and 2) receive far less support from their manufacturers. 

Patient Privacy  

 If you’ve ever received medical treatment, you’ve likely been provided paperwork on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act—more commonly known as HIPAA. 

HIPAA is a major part of our healthcare system, and it provides a set of rules and guidelines for how, when, and with whom doctors can disclose patient information that is considered private or classified. Essentially, it protects your right to provider-patient confidentiality. And when information falls under these HIPAA regulations, it is referred to as Protected Health Information (PHI). 

But with the rapid evolution of IT in the health sector, PHI may be at a higher risk. Safeguarding patient PHI has become a major challenge in healthcare cybersecurity, as many cyber attacks are geared toward mining this private information for reselling on the black market. In 2023, more than 167 million individuals were affected by large healthcare data breaches—a record high according to HHS.

Workforce Gaps and Skill Shortages

Technology alone cannot sustain a cybersecurity program.

Healthcare organizations need security analysts, infrastructure specialists, cloud professionals, compliance experts, project leaders, trainers, and operational stakeholders who understand how security affects clinical and business workflows.

Many organizations struggle to build and retain these capabilities. Internal IT teams often manage security initiatives while supporting daily operations, vendor relationships, modernization projects, and compliance requirements.

Workforce planning plays a critical role in cybersecurity readiness. Organizations need access to the right expertise at the right time, whether through full-time employees, consultants, specialized project teams, or managed delivery models.

Vendor and Third-Party Risk

Healthcare organizations depend on a broad ecosystem of software providers, cloud platforms, contractors, consultants, staffing partners, and service vendors.

Each relationship introduces potential security considerations. Vendors may access sensitive systems, process protected information, or support critical business functions.

Strong third-party risk management includes vendor assessments, data governance practices, contractual protections, access management controls, and ongoing monitoring.

AI Adoption Without Enough Governance

AI is becoming part of healthcare operations, cybersecurity, administration, analytics, and workforce productivity. It can help teams move faster and identify patterns, but it also introduces new questions around privacy, data quality, model use, oversight, and accountability.

NIST notes that AI creates both cybersecurity opportunities and challenges, including the use of AI to augment defensive capabilities and the need to adapt defenses against AI-enabled attacks. 

Internal Misuse 

Last but not least, one of the most pressing cybersecurity challenges plaguing the healthcare industry is internal misuse. Human involvement was present in 60% of breaches analyzed in Verizon’s 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report.

Internal misuse, also referred to as insider threats, can be intentional or accidental. Intentional insider threats occur when someone with access—like an employee, former employee, or vendor—enables or instigates security breaches. This could include leaking passwords or financial details, selling patient data, or intentionally downloading malware, to name a few. 

Accidental insider threats are typically the result of carelessness or negligence. It could be as simple as being unaware of security policies and ignoring healthcare cybersecurity training, or as extensive as leaving sensitive information in an unprotected area.  

Accidental insider threats have historically made up the majority of this form of cyber attack, with 61% being negligent users and only 14% of occurrences being malicious.  

Tips for Bolstering Security 

So, how can healthcare systems combat some of these issues? Well, the truth is that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all prescription as each healthcare system has its own unique set of security challenges. However, there a few steps every system can take to bolster cybersecurity: 

• Cybersecurity training to teach internal users best practices, plus how to identify phishing attempts and other forms of attacks 
• Integrating software updates to prevent as many systems as possible from becoming legacy systems 
• Implementing cybersecurity software to cover patches in vulnerable or non-supported systems 
• Strengthen system access controls and practice the Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP) 
• Perform regular risk assessments to identify weak points in the network and to be aware of security gaps in legacy systems 
• Hiring qualified staff cybersecurity healthcare staff

Protect Your Data, Protect Your Patients

Cybersecurity supports every part of modern healthcare operations. Patient privacy, regulatory compliance, workforce productivity, business continuity, and care delivery all depend on secure and reliable systems.

Organizations that invest in cybersecurity talent, governance, modernization, and execution are better positioned to reduce risk, support long-term growth, and maintain trust across patients, providers, and stakeholders.

At Insight Global, we help healthcare organizations build the teams and solutions they need to protect data, support operations, and move modernization efforts forward. Whether you need cybersecurity professionals, AI implementation support, or anything in between, we can help you build the right solution for your organization.