Healthcare cybersecurity: patient data protection and NIS2 compliance
In healthcare, a data breach costs an average of $9.77 million: the highest of any sector for 13 consecutive years (IBM, Cost of a Data Breach 2025). CyberGrant protects hospitals, labs, and healthcare providers with file-centric DLP: data is encrypted at creation and stays protected wherever it goes, including outside the network and after third-party sharing. NIS2 and GDPR compliant, including on legacy systems.
How exposed is healthcare to cyberattacks?
In 2024, the healthcare sector faced an average of 68 cyberattacks per month – the vast majority driven by cybercriminals.
Ransomware continues to dominate, halting operations and extorting healthcare institutions
(Clusit, 2026 Report)
(Clusit, 2026 Report)
(Clusit, 2026 Report)
Which cyber threats hit healthcare hardest?
On the dark web, patient records are worth more than financial data. That makes them a constant target – fueling identity theft and eroding public trust
Legacy software often contains unpatched vulnerabilities – making it easier for attackers to breach sensitive records and disrupt care continuity
Cybercriminals use AI to launch sophisticated phishing schemes against healthcare workers; compromising email accounts, medical records, and hospital management systems
Ransomware encrypts sensitive data, shuts down services, and delays treatment. Paying the ransom only adds financial strain – without guaranteed recovery
Third-party vendors, external consultants, or even employees tricked by phishing can open the door to massive data breaches, legal exposure, and reputational damage
NIS2 and GDPR demand proactive risk management and data security measures. Staying compliant is critical to safeguarding systems – and avoiding costly penalties
How does CyberGrant protect patient data end to end?
- Quantum-safe Lock&Go encryption on medical records, clinical files and trial documents (CRYSTALS-Kyber, NIST FIPS 203)
- Secure sharing with labs, CROs and insurers: single-use access links with expiry and instant revocation
- AI Classification: automated tagging of clinical data, protected viewer and AI scraping prevention
- Endpoint protection on clinical workstations and legacy devices: blocks malware, ransomware and unauthorised code
- Transparent encryption on USB drives, remote workstations and multi-site environments
- Advanced anti-phishing defense on email and attachments, including offline and outside the hospital network
- Private on-premise AI: analyse clinical documents and search records without data leaving the network
- Responses limited to documents the user is authorised to access, with role-based and department-level segregation
- Automated content classification with full audit log, compliant with GDPR and ENISA Healthcare Procurement Guidelines 2026
HEALTHCARE SECTOR
- End-to-end encryption on communications with patients, specialists and insurers
- Revoke access to attachments after sending, even after they have been opened by the recipient
- Scheduled expiry on sensitive messages and documents: GDPR compliance without uncontrolled email archives
- Attack surface discovery and penetration testing on hospital infrastructure, legacy systems and clinical applications
- Targeted attack simulation on document systems, email and remote clinical workstation access
- Executive Summary and Technical Report for the CISO and NIS2 supervisory bodies
Case studies
Case study
A top-tier healthcare facility transformed doctor-patient communication, reduced handling times by 40%, and cut security incidents by 95% with the help of our digital platform.
How do you keep thousands of lab reports safe every day? Discover how a diagnostic lab slashed security incidents by 95% and boosted patient trust by locking down sensitive clinical data.
Case study
Strengthen your cybersecurity posture with solutions built for healthcare environments
Frequently asked questions: healthcare cybersecurity
Yes. Under Italy's D.Lgs. 138/2024 (in force since 16 October 2024), hospitals and healthcare providers classified as essential entities fall within the NIS2 scope. Operational measures must be in place by October 2026. Requirements include data encryption, access management, audit trails, and incident reporting within 24 hours (early warning) and 72 hours (detailed notification). The current reference document is ACN (Italy's National Cybersecurity Agency) Determination no. 127437 of 13 April 2026.
File-centric protection encrypts the document at creation and keeps it encrypted even after it is shared with a third party. With FileGrant, every clinical record or diagnostic report shared externally retains its original access restrictions: the recipient cannot print, download in clear text, or take screenshots. Access can be revoked at any time, even after the file has been received.
Patient data sent to external AI services (ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini) leaves the organisation's control and cannot be retrieved. The GDPR and the ENISA Procurement Guidelines for Healthcare (2026) explicitly prohibit submitting clinical data to AI services without explicit authorisation and a documented risk assessment. AIGrant solves this with private on-premise AI: no data ever leaves the network.
RemoteGrant applies endpoint protection policies without requiring operating system upgrades: transparent encryption, application whitelisting and blocking of unauthorised removable devices all work on older Windows environments.
FileGrant and RemoteGrant integrate with existing infrastructure without replacing clinical management systems. Protection operates at the file system level and is transparent to clinical users. For environments with specific integration requirements, you can request a free preliminary assessment.
Key Takeaways
- Healthcare has recorded the highest average data breach cost of any sector for 13 consecutive years: $9.77 million in 2024 (IBM, Cost of a Data Breach 2025).
- 47% of attacks on healthcare use ransomware; in 64% of cases the consequences are serious or critical (Clusit, 2026 Report).
- The structural vulnerability is not the network perimeter: it is clinical files moving in clear text to labs, insurers, and external CROs.
- NIS2 (D.Lgs. 138/2024 for Italy-based organisations, operational measures by October 2026) requires data encryption, audit trails, and incident reporting within 24 hours. File-centric protection is the operational answer.
- Clinical data sent to public AI services cannot be retrieved once it leaves the organisation. AIGrant eliminates the risk at the source with private on-premise AI.