Cyber-attacks are a permanent and substantial threat to health systems: Education must reflect that
Author(s)
Niki, O’Brien
Saira, Ghafur
Arvind, Sivaramakrishnan
Mike, Durkin
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Cyber-attacks on healthcare institutions have increased in recent years and have made headlines through the COVID-19 pandemic. With the fallout of attacks increasingly reported in academic research and in the media, there is a real urgency to address cyber-threats that must be augmented across and within health systems. Until now, clinical healthcare professionals have considered cyber-attacks on healthcare organisations a predominantly information and communication technology issue, but this perception is no longer fit-for-purpose. This commentary provides insights into the scale of cyber-attacks and their impact on staff wellbeing, arguing that cybersecurity education for all staff in healthcare organisations must be improved through online resources, simulation, and gaming. The role of national educators, policymakers, and multilateral organisations in achieving this is outlined alongside implications for future policy and practice.
Date Acceptance
2022-05-14
Citation
Digital Health, 8, pp.205520762211046-205520762211046
ISSN
2055-2076
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Start Page
205520762211046
End Page
205520762211046
Journal / Book Title
Digital Health
Volume
8
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2022 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
License URL
Identifier
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20552076221104665
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2022-06-16