How COVID‑19 Shaped Healthcare IoT Cybersecurity: Lessons from the First Wave

Healthcare organizations—hospitals, research institutes, and clinics—have borne the brunt of the pandemic, while cybercriminals seized the opportunity. Leon Lerman, CEO of Cynerio notes that cyber attacks targeting the sector have surged by 300 % since COVID‑19 began.

The first wave offers a clear message: proactive defenses can shield clinical networks, keep essential services running, and safeguard patient safety now and in the future.

Why Healthcare Is a High‑Value Target

To secure hospitals, we must first understand why they are so attractive and difficult to protect:

• Personal Health Information (PHI) is worth thousands of dollars on the black market, far surpassing the meager value of credit card or SSN data.
• Many Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) devices lack built‑in security and were never designed for network connectivity. Over 70 % run unsupported Windows versions (e.g., Windows 7) that can’t receive patches.
• Standard security tools fail with IoMT. Devices such as heart monitors or MRI machines communicate with vendor servers in ways that generic firewalls or NAC rules can disrupt, jeopardizing patient care.
• Clinical networks are in constant flux. Today’s global ecosystem hosts around 10 billion IoMT devices, adding roughly 50 per second. By 2028, the figure is projected to hit 50 billion. Tracking them manually is virtually impossible without automated asset management.
• Attack vectors have broadened. While state‑sponsored campaigns once dominated, now even amateur hackers with simple malware on everyday devices—security cameras, PCs, game consoles—can inflict serious harm by exploiting their presence on medical networks.

COVID‑19 Exacerbated Existing Vulnerabilities

• Staff shortages cut across medical, IT, and cybersecurity teams.
• Rapid adoption of remote work and telehealth has expanded the attack surface, creating countless new entry points.
• Equipment shortages and surges in patient volume forced many devices onto the network without security vetting.
• Emergency units and field hospitals necessitated cross‑ward and cross‑site equipment relocation, further complicating topology and exposure.

Despite these hurdles, solutions are within reach.

Preventive Measures to Weather the Next Wave

• Launch a cyber‑awareness campaign—educate staff, patients, and partners on threats and hygiene practices.
• Adopt a Zero‑Trust security model—limit access to ePHI, reduce the attack surface, and contain breaches before they spread.
• Segment the network—restrict device communication to only what is essential for clinical operations.
• Implement a Healthcare IoT security program—automated solutions that integrate with existing IT tools, add medical context, and prevent downtime.

Top research firms such as Forrester and Gartner now publish dedicated reports on leading vendors, underscoring the growing maturity of this niche.

Hospitals can now leverage a suite of tools that accelerate securing clinical environments—automated inventory, vulnerability management, and network segmentation—far faster than manual processes.

While threats like data theft and COVID surges may feel beyond our control, the steps to mitigate them are within our grasp. The tools and authority to fortify healthcare’s cyber posture rest in hospitals’ hands.

Author: Leon Lerman, CEO at Cynerio.

About the author

Leon Lerman is CEO at Cynerio, bringing over a decade of cybersecurity enterprise sales and business development. Prior roles include director of sales at Metapacket and sales engineering at RSA Security. He served as an intelligence officer in Israel’s 8200 unit and holds a B.Sc. in industrial engineering and management from the Open University of Israel, graduating with distinction.