Cyber Insecurity in Healthcare: What Industry Research Confirms – and Where Execution Still Falls Short

Industry research confirms cyber threats are disrupting patient care at scale. Omega Systems’ 2025 Healthcare IT Landscape Report reveals the deeper issue: healthcare organizations overestimate preparedness, underestimate execution gaps, and delay the operational changes needed to protect patients.

That conclusion becomes clear when comparing two complementary 2025 datasets. The fourth annual healthcare cybersecurity study conducted by the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by Proofpoint quantifies the frequency, cost, and clinical impact of cyberattacks across the healthcare sector. Omega’s healthcare IT report, based on a survey of 250 healthcare leaders, examines how cybersecurity is prioritized – or deprioritized – in real-world decision-making.

Together, the findings tell a consistent story: the risk is widely recognized, but execution continues to lag behind exposure.

Cyber Risk Is Widespread – and Clinically Disruptive

The Ponemon study establishes the scale of healthcare cyber insecurity with clarity. Ninety-three percent of healthcare organizations experienced at least one cyberattack in the past 12 months, averaging 43 attacks per organization. Across the four primary attack types studied – cloud/account compromise, ransomware, supply chain attacks, and business email compromise – 72% of affected organizations reported disruption to patient care.

These disruptions extend beyond IT inconvenience. Respondents cited delays in procedures and tests, longer lengths of stay, increased complications from medical procedures, and, in some cases, increased mortality rates. The average cost of the single most expensive cyberattack over the past year reached $3.9 million, driven largely by downtime and operational disruption rather than technical remediation alone.

When digital systems are unavailable or compromised, clinical teams are forced to delay, divert, or make decisions without complete information – increasing both operational strain and patient risk.

Table 1: Scale and Clinical Impact of Cyber Incidents

What this shows:
Cyber incidents are no longer abstract or isolated events – they are persistent operational risks with direct clinical consequences.

Cybersecurity Still Isn’t Treated as a Core Clinical Priority

Despite this exposure, Omega’s survey highlights a troubling disconnect in leadership prioritization. When asked to rank the most significant challenges hindering business success in 2025, healthcare leaders placed defending against cyberattacks last – behind operational costs, regulatory compliance, patient data protection, technology innovation, and even patient safety itself.

Table 2: Leadership Priorities vs. Cyber Risk

What this shows:
While leaders understand cyber insecurity conceptually, it is still treated as a supporting IT concern – not a foundational requirement for safe, reliable care delivery.

Confidence Outpaces Readiness

One of the most consequential insights emerges when comparing leader confidence with operational reality.

Omega’s survey found that 80% of healthcare leaders are confident employees can detect and prevent AI-driven attacks such as phishing or deepfakes. Seventy-six percent are confident in the security posture of third-party vendors and suppliers. Yet these perceptions conflict sharply with execution-level data.

Table 3: Perceived Preparedness vs. Operational Capability

What this shows:
Healthcare organizations are not ignoring cybersecurity – but many are overestimating effectiveness, creating a false sense of protection that increases clinical and operational risk.

The Four Execution Gaps Keeping Healthcare Exposed

Both studies point to the same structural weaknesses. Omega’s research helps explain why they persist.

Table 4: Persistent Cybersecurity Execution Gaps

What this shows:
Cyber risk isn’t escalating because organizations lack tools – it’s escalating because execution models have not evolved with the threat landscape.

Identity, Cloud Access & the Human Layer

The Ponemon study consistently identifies cloud/account compromise as the most significant area of vulnerability, with collaboration tools such as text messaging, video conferencing, and email most frequently targeted.

Omega’s findings help explain why these risks remain unresolved.

Table 5: Identity and Cloud Readiness Gaps

As healthcare expands telehealth, remote access, and cloud-hosted clinical systems, these gaps increasingly affect care continuity – not just IT posture.

Why MSSPs Are Becoming Operationally Necessary

Staffing and expertise constraints are no longer temporary challenges. The Ponemon study cites lack of in-house expertise and unclear leadership as persistent barriers. Omega’s data adds important context: while 63% of organizations have internal IT or security teams, more than one-third consist of fewer than five people.

Table 6: Internal Capability vs. External Support

What this shows:
Healthcare organizations cannot scale security operations the same way attackers scale automation. External expertise is increasingly essential to maintaining clinical reliability.