By 2024, multiple digital attacks have taken place against healthcare organizations with an impact on healthcare processes in the Netherlands and in Europe. That's why Z-CERT emphasizes the urgency of better cooperation within Europe to combat the increasing cyber threats. The geopolitical situation poses new challenges. While criminals take advantage of weaknesses in the digital infrastructure, key players in the healthcare sector continue to cooperate insufficiently and hesitate to share sensitive information.
Wim Hafkamp, director Z-CERT: “An important step forward is better communication between (inter)national CSIRTs, as required by the new NIS2 directive. The action plan from the European Commission is a nice follow-up to this. Furthermore, it is important that more mechanisms are needed within sectors, such as healthcare, to share knowledge and experience about threat intelligence. Without this sharing, organizations remain vulnerable to repeated attacks.”
In addition, Z-CERT calls for more realistic exercises, tests and simulations within the healthcare sector, similar to the practical examples from banking. Hafkamp: “In sectors such as education and science, we sometimes see institutions down for days. Recently, DigiD was the victim of a large-scale DDoS attack. This type of attack also has an impact on healthcare, because at many hospitals patients log in to their records via DigiD. In the Threat Landscape, we focus specifically on threats to healthcare via the supply chain. Testing and simulation is important to be ready for what is to come. Do this within your own organization, but also involve key chain partners!”
Z-CERT calls on healthcare institutions, governments and other involved parties to join hands now and take joint action. This statement was reinforced today by the presentation of the fifth 'Z-CERT Cybersecurity Threat Landscape for Healthcare' in Brussels. In its Threat Landscape, Z-CERT outlines various cyber threats to healthcare, substantiated with figures, examples of incidents and measures that can help. We learn from incidents from across Europe and beyond.