Health Cybercamp 

Objective: Based on feedback from participants and speakers, the objective of Health  CyberCamp is to create links between cybersecurity and healthcare information systems professionals.

In France, as in all of Europe, cyberattacks are on the rise, especially on healthcare institutions. 

In response, Europe has taken up the subject with the cybersecurity regulation, whose benefits and impact for the health sector should now be understood. In addition, this topic will receive special attention in the context of the creation of the European Health Data Space (EHDS).

In France, a wake-up call took place on a Friday evening in November 2019 when the Rouen University Hospital fell victim to a large-scale cyberattack, forcing it to switch to standby mode. On March 22, 2020, at the height of the pandemic, the AP-HP Paris Hospital System and its 29 establishments in the region were faced with a massive denial-of-service attack. Together with the COVID crisis, these cyberattacks have caused a lot of concern and are a reason for Europe to be better prepared.

For example, in 2020, 250 healthcare facilities reported 369 digital security incidents1. 60% of these incidents were acts of cybercrime (compared to 43% in 2019 and 41% in 2018). These acts of cybercrime against healthcare facilities have been constantly increasing for at least three years. Digital risk management is therefore more important than ever.

Finally, the 135 regional healthcare coordination authorities (GHTs) will be included in the list of "Essential Service Operators", subjecting them to stricter security rules, compliance with which is monitored by the French National Agency for Information System Security (ANSSI).

Other examples in France:

• On February 8 and 15, 2021, the hospitals of Dax and Villefranche-sur-Saône were the target of ransomware attacks that disrupted their operations and forced the transfer of patients to other hospitals nearby. 
• On February 5, 2021, the Mutuelle Nationale des Hospitaliers suffered a ransomware attack. The websites and telephone platform of this mutual insurer became "temporarily unavailable" for its 550,000 members.
• The ransom note, hosted on Tor, from the hacker collective RansomExx, was made public by the specialist site BleepingComputer. The note told MNH executives, in English, that "all [their] bank accounts will be ARRESTED to prevent [their] payment" if they tried to contact the police.

Goals:

During a European event, drawing on recent experiences in Europe and looking at the European regulatory framework and national regulatory frameworks, the aim will be to: 

• Share best practices to raise awareness and train teams in digital hygiene, in less time and at a lower cost, in order to reduce the risks and consequences of cybercrimes 
• Reiterate the role of public actors in cybersecurity (CERT Santé, Cyberveille, ANSSI, etc. and their European counterparts) 
• Prepare for cyberattacks by analysing the various threats, their impact on hospital activity and more generally on healthcare players, and the best ways to respond 
• Promote the creation of cyber-crisis teams beyond the usual forms in the health sector (Plan Blanc, ORSAN/ORSEC mechanism, etc. and other initiatives in Europe).