Healthcare organizations are vulnerable because patient care depends on connected, time-sensitive systems and sensitive information, while security controls, older technology and third-party protections vary. Attackers can exploit those weaknesses to steal data or disrupt services—and disruption can affect treatment, not just IT operations.
Why healthcare is an attractive target
Hospitals and other healthcare providers rely on digital systems for electronic health records, patient monitoring, imaging, laboratory work, pharmacy services, scheduling and payments. Clinicians need information and systems to be available quickly. That dependence raises the stakes of an outage and can give criminals leverage to demand payment.
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The sector also holds sensitive health and identity information, and care relies on a broad network of organizations: clinics, laboratories, technology vendors, device makers, logistics providers and cloud services. A weakness at one point in that network can create risk elsewhere. The World Health Organization describes the combination of interconnected systems, sensitive data and inadequate safeguards as a reason health infrastructure is targeted (WHO, “Cyber-attacks on critical health infrastructure,” February 6, 2024).
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HHS’s Hospital Resiliency Landscape Analysis identifies several threats to U.S. hospitals. They are not mutually exclusive: an attacker may exploit a vulnerability to gain access, then use stolen credentials or ransomware to cause harm.
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- Ransomware: Criminals encrypt or steal data and pressure an organization to pay. An outage can affect clinical and administrative operations.
- Phishing and spear-phishing: Deceptive messages seek credentials or prompt staff to take an unsafe action. HHS also describes social engineering that can overcome multifactor authentication (MFA).
- Software and zero-day vulnerabilities: Attackers exploit weaknesses in operating systems, applications or devices, including flaws for which a patch may not yet be available.
- Cloud exploitation: Misconfigurations or compromised accounts can expose cloud-hosted services or information.
- Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS): Attackers flood a service with traffic, making it difficult or impossible for legitimate users to reach.
In the HHS analysis, 71% of attacks in the analyzed data were characterized as human-directed. That figure describes the analysis, not a universal rate for all healthcare attacks. The same analysis found that 96% of participating small, medium and large hospitals reported using end-of-life operating systems or software with known vulnerabilities, including in medical devices. These are findings about participating hospitals, not proof that every hospital has the same systems or security posture (HHS Hospital Resiliency Landscape Analysis).
Why older systems and third parties complicate security
Replacing or patching technology can be difficult
Some healthcare systems and connected devices remain in service for long periods. Replacing them may require budget, vendor support and careful coordination so clinical operations can continue. Applying a patch can also require testing to ensure that essential systems and devices still work safely. When software reaches end of life, security fixes may no longer be available, leaving organizations with a harder choice: replace it, isolate it, or manage the risk through other controls.
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Care depends on suppliers and connected devices
Healthcare delivery involves vendors, payment processors, cloud platforms, medical devices and other connected services. Organizations may not have equal visibility into every supplier’s safeguards or every device connected to their networks. In the HHS analysis, 49% of surveyed hospitals said they had adequate coverage for managing supply-chain risk—again, a survey finding rather than a sector-wide measure. The Government Accountability Office also noted an incomplete sector-wide assessment of risks from internet-connected devices and operational technology at the time of its reporting (GAO, “Healthcare Cybersecurity: HHS Continues to Have Challenges as Lead Agency,” 2025).
How an attack can affect patients and care
A cyber incident can expose confidential records, but availability is also a patient-safety concern. If systems needed for records, communications, diagnostics or scheduling are unavailable, providers may have to delay or change care. WHO reports that cyberattacks have led to cancelled outpatient appointments and elective surgeries, ambulance diversions and postponed cancer treatment. The impact depends on which services are affected and how well the organization can operate safely during downtime.
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The February 2024 ransomware attack on Change Healthcare illustrates how a single dependency can have wider effects. Change Healthcare is a health payment processor; GAO reports data theft, widespread effects on provider operations and patient care, and an estimated $874 million in losses. This is GAO’s reported estimate for that incident, not a typical loss figure for healthcare attacks. Separately, HHS’s Office for Civil Rights says the initial breach report filed on July 19, 2024 listed 500 affected individuals—the minimum number that triggers a posting on its Breach Portal—while the total was still being determined. That initial field should not be mistaken for a final confirmed count (GAO, 2025; HHS OCR, Change Healthcare incident FAQ).
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No single safeguard removes the risk. HHS’s voluntary Cybersecurity Performance Goals are intended to help healthcare organizations prioritize practices that strengthen preparedness and resilience. Its Health Industry Cybersecurity Practices guidance groups mitigations into ten areas:
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- Email protection
- Endpoint protection
- Identity and access management
- Data protection and loss prevention
- IT asset management
- Network management
- Vulnerability management
- Security operations and incident response
- Security for network-connected medical devices
- Cybersecurity oversight and governance
In practice, organizations can use these areas to identify what is connected, reduce exposure to known vulnerabilities, strengthen email and account protections, monitor systems and prepare to respond. Medical-device security needs to be part of that work rather than treated as separate from network security. HHS’s HICP guidance describes how a phishing compromise of a file server connected to ICU heart monitors could disrupt those devices (HHS, Health Industry Cybersecurity Practices, 2023 edition; HHS Cybersecurity Performance Goals).
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What makes one organization more exposed than another?
There is no single ranking that applies to every provider. A useful assessment considers the organization’s clinical dependence on digital services, the sensitivity and amount of accessible data, its legacy systems and third-party footprint, the maturity of its security controls, and whether it can sustain care during a disruption. Those factors help explain why the same threat can have very different consequences across organizations.
HHS also publishes HC3’s “Ransomware & Healthcare” presentation, dated January 18, 2024. It reported more than 630 ransomware incidents affecting healthcare worldwide in 2023, including more than 460 affecting the U.S. Healthcare and Public Health sector. These are dated incident counts presented in 2024, not a current annual estimate.
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