Cyberattacks as a Public Health Threat

Traditionally, military, government and financial institutions have been the primary targets of international cyberattacks. But the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the extent to which soft targets such as pharmaceutical companies and hospitals are attractive. It’s time to consider the geopolitical reality that cyberattacks can threaten public health and safety. Coming to a Hospital Near You Before the coronavirus pandemic, there were minimal consequences to a cyberattack on public health targets. The tampering with pharmaceuticals or the death of patients in a hospital would make medical institutions and governments look weak or negligent, but the domestic and geopolitical impact would have been minimal. But the pandemic has put public health at the center of national concern and has pitted political and health institutions against one another. As a result, deep political and social tensions have been exposed. This now makes attacking public health more attractive because the consequences of doing so would yield higher returns. Now, an attack on public health could cause real problems for governments – by creating, for example, a social backlash that threatens stability or diverts attention and resources elsewhere. Until now, attacks on public health targets focused primarily on financial returns for the attacker. Indeed, a […]