Attacks on the life sciences and healthcare sectors (healthcare providers and health technology, medical device, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies) increased dramatically over the last year, even at the World Health Organization, that reported a substantial increase in attacks in 2020. Moreover, the life sciences industry was the biggest target of intellectual property theft by hostile cyberspace assaults, ultimately costing the US billions of dollars. With the constant push to create vaccines and medicinal cures throughout the globe, the hazards show no signs of receding.

Why is cybersecurity for life sciences important?

There is a huge interest in the Life Science business from a wide variety of threat actors: Malicious actors are attracted to the Life Science industry as the industry manages substantial quantities of cash. There are hacktivists and extreme hackers who believe that the industry’s activities are immoral. While foreign nations may try to disrupt essential medicine and treatment supplies or steal technology to assist their own local enterprises compete.

Furthermore, companies in the Life Sciences sector often have access to highly confidential data about their clients’ goods and research. The whole value stream of Life Science enterprises, from research & innovation to manufacturing and distribution, is largely dependent on technology and the availability of data. In consequence, primary data integrity is vital to Life Science businesses as they strive to introduce novel treatments and products and keep regulatory approval. The need of maintaining strict confidentiality is underscored by the nature of the work being done in this field.

A plethora of individually identifiable information and extremely sensitive health information is held by some Life Science organizations, and this information is becoming increasingly useful to thieves. Many clinical trial data are anonymized, but data is gathered at the adverse event management stage and as part of patient support programs, and the number is rapidly increasing. This data is used across the value chain in clinical trials.