Cybersafe healthcare in the age of IoT

There’s an ongoing gold rush on the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) in the healthcare sector. The Internet of Things (IoT) in healthcare market size was valued at USD 128.18 billion in 2023 and is estimated to reach USD 556.71 billion by 2032, growing a CAGR of 17.9% from 2023 to 2032.¹ 

This boom in IoT and AI technology is only partly due to the accelerated digitalisation triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. A lion’s share of the credit goes to the healthcare sector’s increasing dependence on large amounts of data that needs to be collected, consolidated, and analysed. Today’s hospitals and other healthcare facilities are increasingly calling on AI and IoT to do exactly that.

But even as IoT and AI adoption in healthcare increases, stakeholders are also seeing an equivalent spike in cybersecurity threats that threaten to compromise sensitive patient data.

These numbers highlight an urgent need for robust cybersecurity systems to be put in place to ensure that sensitive data is protected at all times.

The risks of IoT and AI adoption in healthcare certainly pale next to their benefits: these technologies give healthcare providers the ability to draw insights and make predictions from large sets of data, which are collected from an expanding ecosystem of interconnected medical devices like wearables, sensors, and monitoring systems. The data collected includes (but may not be limited to) real-time vital signs, glucose, and activity levels.

These technology-powered insights give healthcare providers the ability to make better-informed decisions on diagnoses and patient treatments – improving patient outcomes down the line.

IoT provides the backbone for this interconnected environment. With access to an ecosystem of IoT devices working with each other to harness, store, and analyse data, healthcare providers can then turn to AI to help identify useful patterns like recognising the early signs of kidney disease, or the symptoms of cardiac arrest.

SingHealth, a public healthcare cluster in Singapore, oversees a network of four public hospitals, three community hospitals, five national specialty centres, and eight polyclinics. The vast amounts of data generated by the cluster and tens of thousands of patients demand technologies like AI to help provide personalised healthcare while enabling early risk forecasting.³

Unfortunately, the healthcare sector is one of the most common targets for cyberattacks. A Check Point Research (CPR) study found that in 2022, healthcare organisations experienced as many as 1,462 attacks per week, 60% up from the frequency in 2021.⁴

Unfortunately, the healthcare sector is one of the most common targets for cyberattacks. A Check Point Research (CPR) study found that in 2022, healthcare organisations experienced as many as 1,462 attacks per week, 60% up from the frequency in 2021.⁴

Cyberattacks can put Singapore-based healthcare facilities at risk in more ways than one – under laws like the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), companies can be fined up to SGD1 million or 10% of the organisation's annual turnover, whichever is higher, in the event of a breach.⁵

As IoT and AI become the norm in healthcare facilities, providers are under pressure to build a robust cybersecurity system, ensuring that sensitive information from both patients and healthcare workers is kept safe and out of reach from attackers.

Some of the most common cybersecurity threats for the healthcare sector include⁶:

●  Ransomware
●  Data theft
●  Compromised systems
●  Denial-of-service attacks
●  Malware
●  Cloud threats
●  Weaponisation of tools

To address this broad selection of threats, effective cybersecurity needs to be holistic in its approach.

For example, Singtel offers round-the-clock monitoring, detection, prevention, and solutions provided by a team of trusted experts.

We also regularly update our threat intelligence, ensuring ongoing vigilance against new modus operandi for cyberattacks.

Solutions provided by Singtel to hospitals include:

●  Proactive risk management
●  Enhancing escalation and response capabilities
●  Formulating crisis strategies

These partnerships show that cybersecurity should not be left to a single IT department or expert – protecting sensitive patient data is a team effort based on robust and round-the-clock cybersecurity infrastructure and the know-how of trusted and tested experts.

Let’s talk about building a resilient cybersecurity infrastructure for your healthcare organisation.