Cybersecurity Awareness: A Permanent Priority for Healthcare Professionals

By Netvora Tech News

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As cybersecurity threats continue to evolve, Minister of Health Agema emphasizes the need for permanent cybersecurity awareness among healthcare professionals. "In the healthcare sector, it's a constant balancing act between user convenience and patient and data security," she says. "Healthcare professionals play a crucial role in safeguarding that security. Sources indicate that approximately 75% of cyber incidents in the healthcare sector are behavior-related." To address this issue, Agema advocates for ongoing cybersecurity awareness training for healthcare professionals. She cites low-threshold, online training modules and courses as examples. The minister's comments came in response to questions from parliament regarding a European action plan to improve the cybersecurity of hospitals and healthcare providers, including protection against ransomware attacks. The action plan and proposed measures are divided into five themes: prevention, detection, response, recovery, and deterrence. Online training and courses are among the measures outlined. Details on how these will be implemented and when the European Commission will make them available are still unclear, Agema notes. "The proposed action plan states that these will be designed and distributed starting in 2026," she says. The Dutch government welcomed the goals of the action plan in February, stating that healthcare institutions are close to the general public and that advanced cyber attacks have significant consequences for patient safety and society. "Therefore, it is essential to increase the digital resilience of healthcare institutions," the government said. The government is also positive about the attention given to ransomware in the action plan and proposals to strengthen the approach to combating ransomware.