February CISO BRIEF: Privacy Deadlines, Clinical Impact, and Persistent Attack Paths
As healthcare organizations move closer to the February 16, 2026, compliance deadline for the updated 42 CFR Part 2 requirements, they are doing so in an environment defined by persistent ransomware activity, slow remediation of known exploited vulnerabilities, expanding clinical attack surfaces, and growing use of unmanaged technologies. This month’s Brief focuses on how these […]
Preparation Changes Outcomes In Ransomware Attacks
In our latest webinar, we conducted a Red Team/Blue Team post-mortem on a real ransomware attack that occurred last year at Frederick Health Medical Group in Maryland. The system has more than 4,000 clinicians and staff across 25 locations. The Frederick Health attack exposed more than 900,000 patient records and hampered operations for a number […]
Inside a Healthcare Ransomware Battle: How Preparation Saved Patients
With 25 years in cybersecurity, including experience at the Department of Defense and National Security Agency, Phil Alexander has seen the full spectrum of cyber threats. Since founding his consultancy and working extensively with healthcare organizations, he’s gained unique insights into the industry’s specific vulnerabilities and the most effective strategies to address them. His experience […]
When Cyber Threats Hit Rural Hospitals: Lessons from the Front Lines
A savvy CEO leads a rural hospital through a cybersecurity crisis Cybersecurity attacks on rural hospitals are no longer a question of “if,” but “when.” For Mount Desert Island Hospital in Bar Harbor, Maine, that moment came during Chrissi Maguire’s tenure as CEO. A longtime financial and operational leader turned hospital chief, Maguire had to […]
CISO Brief: October 2025 Cybersecurity Threat Recap & Insight
October delivered two wake-up calls for healthcare cybersecurity leaders: a critical WSUS remote-code execution flaw that exposed update-chain integrity and a major AWS US-EAST-1 outage that disrupted global services for hours. Together, they underscored a single truth—even trusted infrastructure and cloud providers can become a single point of failure. This month’s CISO Brief for October […]
Lessons from the Front Lines: The Perspective of a Cyberattack from the Nursing Floor
A longtime nurse has seen the impact of cyberattacks up close and personal. Don Neal is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) with nearly 50 years of healthcare experience. As a self-described “old-timer,” he experienced the shift to healthcare technology firsthand, from using electronic charting to switching to automated blood pressure machines. While he says […]
Lessons From the Front Lines: How One Hospital Survived 30 Days Offline
For healthcare leaders, there’s no good time for a cyberattack, but they’re especially aggravating when they hit while you’re on vacation. That’s what happened to Katrina Brown, chief nursing officer of Providence Hospital in Mobile, Alabama, when the EMR system and other software went down while she was in Hawaii. The Response Strategy: Taking Quick […]
Lessons from the Front Lines: Learning from the SolarWinds Attack
Two security engineers take us into the trenches—and talk about what happened afterward. James Edgell and Dan Colon work in IT security for Lawrence General Hospital in Lawrence, MA. Normally they spend their days scanning systems, working on cybersecurity awareness newsletters, coordinating with Fortified on business impact analyses, and other routine tasks. However, it wasn’t […]
CISO Brief: Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2025
Since the start of 2025, the healthcare sector has continued to experience cyber incidents that have disrupted patient care, exposed millions of records, and reshaped organizational thinking about resilience. Cybersecurity Awareness Month is not just about reminding people of risks; it’s about translating real-world events into actionable lessons. Below is a look back at the […]
CISO Brief: August 2025 Cybersecurity Threat Recap & Fall Outlook
August 2025 underscored a reality for healthcare cybersecurity leaders: AI is an asset and an attack surface. This past month, we witnessed some notable AI realities, including early warning signs of “AI fatigue” as enterprises struggle to realize the promised efficiencies. This month’s themes highlight two sides of the same coin: adversaries weaponizing AI to […]