Securing Healthcare Summit

How to stop hackers holding patients hostage

21st May 2025 • Online

Given the scale of the challenge, where should healthcare security pros focus their limited resources?

 

Cyberattacks on healthcare: A global threat that can’t be ignored

That headline is not ours; it’s the title of a November 2024 report from the UN where the Security Council itself convened recently to discuss strategies to counter the growing threat to global healthcare from economic and state actors who do not care about the consequences of their actions.

Why? Because, as the head of the UN World Health Organization (WHO) put it, an alarming surge in ransomware attacks is putting the world’s healthcare infrastructure at critical risk, endangering patient safety and destabilising health systems. The attacks have grown in scale and sophistication over the years, with the price tag now in the tens of billions each year.

Briefing ambassadors, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, emphasised the severe impact of cyberattacks on hospitals and healthcare services, calling for urgent and collective global action to address this growing crisis.

“Ransomware and other cyberattacks on hospitals and other health facilities are not just issues of security and confidentiality, they can be issues of life and death,” he said. “At best, these attacks cause disruption and financial loss. At worst, they undermine trust in the health systems on which people depend and even cause patient harm and death.”

He concluded with a call for international cooperation, urging the Security Council to use its mandate to strengthen global cybersecurity and ensure accountability.

This confirmation that the cybersecurity of healthcare infrastructure is a matter of national security in its most basic sense – the safety of the citizen – ties in with the increased prioritization given by governments globally to cybersecurity in the last year or two.

But the question is then: what difference does this make to the day-to-day lives of cybersecurity professionals?

One answer to that is simply that they must become much more resilient in the face of a much more concerted and sophisticated effort to disrupt them.

It was only three or four years ago – during the pandemic – that hackers publicly stated they would not attack healthcare organisations. This gave the sector a breathing space. But as the attacks on Change, on Ascension and on the NHS this year have shown, that breathing space is gone.

So now healthcare is playing catchup and needs to focus on multiple challenges including:

  • Better remote work security assurance
  • Implementing best-in-class endpoint device management
  • Improve general technical controls including encryption, authentication, and authorization
  • Third-party security and interoperability with other parts of the healthcare ecosystem
  • Better risk assessment and business continuity plans
  • Develop more coordinated incident response
  • Secure a complex and rapidly evolving IT/OT environment

Healthcare providers and their supply chains are in one of the most vulnerable and challenging situations of any organisation: they cannot afford downtime – even less than a manufacturer or e-commerce provider; the consequences of downtime are not simply financial or reputational, they are literally a matter of life and death; and the sheer complexity of the environment to be secured elevates the challenge above that faced by most companies.

 

The e-Crime & Cybersecurity Healthcare Summit will take place online and will look at how cybersecurity teams are tackling this new world.
Join our real-life case studies and in-depth technical sessions from the security and privacy teams at a range of different providers and suppliers.

  • Defending against the latest ransomware variants

    • Ransomware is effective precisely because it can exploit whatever weaknesses exist in your security architecture and processes
    • The threat and the actors are constantly evolving, and that evolution is forcing the hand of the government and causing havoc in the insurance market
    • What can CISOs do to better defend against ransomware?
  • Transitioning OT to the Cloud?

    • OT traditionally was localized in particular sites and air-gapped from IT systems.
    • But connectivity with broader corporate networks and the need to manage technology more centrally (especially during COVID) has seen companies looking at managed services in the Cloud for OT.
    • Is this a way forward?
  • Achieving visibility across ecosystems

    • From exposed initial access points such as warehouse management systems to complex machine control software, simply understanding your device and application landscape, its connection and data flows and dependencies is a huge challenge.
    • Can you help with asset tracking and endpoint visibility?
    • And what about anomaly detection after that?
  • OT and the regulations

    • DORA, NIS2 and other regulations put more responsibility for resilience on firms deemed important or critical.
    • Many have focused on IT networks but the regulations include all resilience and so OT environments matter. 
    • What does this new emphasis from regulators mean practically for OT security?
  • Why zero trust, isolation and segmentation are key

    • There has been a shift in recent attacks away form the theft of data – now threat actors are concerned with interrupting all operation activity.
    • It is now critical that business functions are separated, and that internet access to OT networks is limited.
    • Can security teams keep up with sophisticated foes? 
  • Pen testing for OT / SCADA

    • Testing is key to identifying and fixing vulnerabilities before they're exploited. 
    • Regulations like NERC CIP require utilities to assess and mitigate risk. 
    • Testing checks OT security controls are functioning properly and shows regulators an organization's commitment to security.Can you help?

Who attends

Job titles

Senior Information Security Manager EMEA, WEC
Senior Manager Information Security & Governance
Head of Information & Cyber Security
IT Technology Assistant
Senior InfoSec Analyst
Head of IT Strategy & Architecture
CTO
Digital Health Security Lead
Head of Information Security
Deputy Head of Information Governance and Security / Primary Care DPO
Head of Privacy/Data Protection Officer
Information Security Lead
Cyber Security Assurance Lead
Manager Information Security
Information Security Manager
Information Governance & IT Security Officer
Global Head of Information Security
Head of Information Security
Digital Service Manager (Cyber Security)
Security Analyst
DHCT Project Manager
Cyber Security Manager
CISO
Group Head of Information Security & Business Continuity
Cyber Risk Assistant
Senior Risk Engineer
Cyber Security Manager
IT Security Manager
Group Information Governance Lead
EMEA ECS Manager
Head of Information Governance
Information Governance Officer
Information Security (GRC) Analyst
Cyber Security Analyst
Information Security Analyst
Security Manager
Business Security Technical Consultant
Principal Lead - Digital Operations
IT Security Architect | Head of IT Security
Cyber Security Manager
IT Advisor
Virtual CISO
Chief Information Officer
Medical Device Cyber Security
Senior Information Governance and Security Manager
Cyber and Information Security Analyst
Infrastructure Engineer (Security)
Project Support Officer
IT Infrastructure Engineer
IG Manager and DPO
Senior Manager - IT Risk and Compliance
Information Governance Advisor
IG & IT Security Manager
IT Security and Governance
Board Lead for Cyber
Head of Information Security
Cyber Security Engineer
Information Security and Governance Officer
Information Governance Administrator
Information Security Manager
Information Governance and Information Security Manager
Infrastructure Associate and DPO
Head of Information Security
Cyber Threat and Vulnerability Management Lead
Head of Group IT Security
Data Protection Officer
Cyber Security Analyst
Assistant Director of Cyber & Information Security
Head of Security and Infrastructure
Information Security Compliance Lead
IT Risk & Compliance Manager
Cloud Security
System Engineer
Information Security Manager
Compliance Manager
Information Security Senior Specialist
Senior Solutions Architect
Cyber Security Analyst
European Data Protection Manager
Cyber Security Architect
Senior IT Specialist - Cyber Resilience
IT Security Manager
Senior Fraud Prevention Officer
Compliance Officer

Companies

AbbVie
Mubadala Health
The London Clinic
University of Bristol
Nuffield Health
The London Clinic
Sk:n
Roche Diagnostics
Cognassist
NHS Fife
University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA)
Ramsay Health Care UK
Optum
Healios
NHS Highland
Mawdsleys
Nuffield Health
NHS Lanarkshire
EMIS Group plc
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
British Medical Association (BMA)
Lifeways
NHS Somerset
Chubb
NHS Fife
Newmedica
Nuffield Health
Abbott
NHS Forth Valley
Sciensus
Ultromics
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Laya Healthcare
Esadore International
AXA PPP Healthcare
NHS Education for Scotland
West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust
NHS Borders
Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust
Mental Health Innovations
The London Clinic
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Sciensus
NHS Forthvalley
NHS Lanarkshire
NHS National Services Scotland (NHS NSS)
NHS Lanarkshire
North East Ambulance Service
Alliance Healthcare
Sciensus
NHS Highland
Connected Health Group Limited
NHS England
Medica Group Plc
Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
CMR Surgical
Healios
Cygnet Health Care
Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust
Medicom Healthcare
Ultromics
Healthscope
Priory Group
UK Covid-19 Inquiry
Scrivens Opticians & Hearing Care
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust
Zava
Ramsay Health Care UK
Priory Group
3M
Alliance Healthcare
NHS Education for Scotland
Order Line Limited
NHS Education for Scotland
The Francis Crick Institute
Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust
Cook Medical Europe
Bupa Global
Digital Health and Care Wales
A.S. Watson Group
NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA)
Sciensus

Employee size

10,000+
100-499
10,000+
5000-9999
100-499
10,000+
10,000+
5000-9999
1000-1999
100-499
5000-9999
100-499
500-999
3000-4999
500-999
1000-1999
100-499
10,000+
100-499
3000-4999
10,000+
1000-1999
2000-2999
100-499
2000-2999
100-499
3000-4999
10,000+
1000-1999
3000-4999
100-499
5000-9999
100-499
100-499
500-999
100-499
5000-9999
3000-4999
100-499
100-499
5000-9999
10,000+
1-99
500-999
2000-2999
100-499
1000-1999
10,000+
10,000+
10,000+
500-999
1-99
500-999
1000-1999
3000-4999
10,000+
2000-2999
500-999
10,000+
100-499
1000-1999