The Strategy of Cybersecurity Against Cyberattacks Among the E.U (Part I.)
In this day and age, the most critical wars are taking place behind the screens that have become an integral part of our lives in so many ways, and the weapon being used is cyber technology. This war is smarter, "cleaner," and far more dangerous than anything we have ever known. With the click of a button, the new weapon knocks down systems that may hold in their power the safety of millions of people.
The field of cybersecurity is one of the most significant buffers in the healthcare industry. In a highly developed world, medical devices regulated by Bluetooth and other radio frequencies can be hacked remotely, threatening the healthcare of people worldwide. They can also access patient records and sell them on the dark Web; based on a Trustwave report, a healthcare data record is worth approximately $250 per document on the black market.
In the past, the financial sector was the industry most frequently targeted for attacks by hackers; this is no longer true. According to an article published on January 13th, 2021 by CDNetworks, the healthcare industry was considered to be first among the top five Industries Most at Risk from Cyber Threats in 2021.
Over several years, the progression and advances in technology rendered online services more and more efficient. Even healthcare services became more electronic-based, providing such online digital support as access to personal health data and prescriptions, making these services more vulnerable and more alluring to cyber-attacks.
Within the E.U., national security strategies are a relatively new phenomenon, beginning in the early 2000s. ENISA, the European Union Cyber Security Agency, recognized eHealth's importance as a vital grantor to societal and financial welfare, and more particularly, critical information infrastructure. For the first time, the organization focuses on the security challenges and risks of ICT in the Member States' health sectors. Since they perform a crucial societal role, it is critical to analyze how various eHealth systems and infrastructures are essential for healthcare services' particular requirements.
In 2020, ENISA even created Cyber Europe and designed a cyberattack simulation on the Healthcare services in Europe. They aimed to test the efficiency of protocols for dealing with a real cyber-attack on health services and train professionals in the technical skills required if an actual attack was committed. The simulation cyber-attacks had to construct real-life cyber-attack consequences and create real technical occurrences that would result in a crisis across Europe at local, national, and European-wide levels. The targeted audience included National/Governmental CSIRTs / Cyber Security Authorities, Ministries of Health, Healthcare Organizations, eHealth Service Providers, Health industry/insurance, ENISA, Europol, CERT-EU, E.P., Council.
While ENISA had already generated the simulated cyber-attack plan in 2019, the wake of COVID-19 made cybersecurity healthcare even more crucial, which we will discuss in part two of the article.
