Internet of Things (IoT): Cybersecurity Risks in Healthcare

The rapid growth and investment in the Internet of Things (IoT) has significantly impacted how individuals and industries operate. The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to a network of physical, technology-embedded objects that communicate, detect, and interact with their external environment or internal state (Hung, 2017). According to Tankovska (2020), IoT devices are estimated to reach 21.5 billion units by 2025. This technological boom is leading various industrial sectors to notice a quick increase in cybersecurity risks and threats. One industrial sector has been particularly vulnerable to numerous cyber threats across the globe: healthcare. Oliver Noble (2020), a data encryption specialist at NordLocker, suggests that cybercriminals target healthcare institutions because they store an overwhelming amount of patient information that is private, personal, and unchangeable. Healthcare organizations have a difficult time securing their cybersecurity infrastructure and the reasons for this will be further discussed in this paper