Understanding Cyber Security Threats

In the world of cybersecurity, ‘prevent to protect’ is considered the most important maxim

- Sean Sullivan

The now infamous WannaCry attack infected more than 2,00,000 businesses across the globe a year ago. One of the most prominent victims was the National Health Service (NHS) of the United Kingdom. In just moments, the attack took 45 NHS hospital groups offline and hindered about 20,000 appointments. Although no fatalities were reported, the largest ransomware attack in history was a clear signal that healthcare industry may not be prepared for increasingly advanced cyberattacks.

In the world of cybersecurity, ‘prevent to protect’ is considered the most important maxim. We have to analyse the attackers’ Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs) and pre-empt attack vectors or those vulnerabilities could potentially be used to compromise a system or a network. Despite our increased awareness of network security, cyberattackers have time and again come up with new and more evolved tactics to counter the cybersecurity establishments. The Hitachi Payment Services hack, for instance, which subsequently affected about 32 lakh debit cards in India, used a malicious code that concealed its traces after every successive exploit. This made the code virtually undetectable.

Imagine an attack like spreading from hospital to hospital. The results could be deadly.

Vulnerability of Healthcare Systems