What is cybersecurity?

The expanded use of networked technology, internet-enabled devices, applications and electronic datasets, used for a range of clinical, financial and administrative functions, have significantly minimised the number of manual steps and time-consuming processes in healthcare workflows. Yet, such connectivity and automated processes have increased the vulnerability of healthcare providers to cybersecurity breaches.

While cybersecurity may be perceived as primarily a technical matter, it is much broader than this and encompasses both technology and human processes. As we continue to move toward integrated, digitally-enabled organisations, the disruption caused by cybersecurity incidents can have far-reaching effects and may include lack of access to critical clinical information and services, risks to patient safety, costly replacement of equipment and data, loss of community confidence in our healthcare system and reputational damage to the providers and organisations that suffer a breach.