Nine in 10 healthcare organizations are planning to adopt AI tools into their cybersecurity strategy by the end of the year.A survey from the Cyber Risk Alliance (CRA) Cybersecurity Buyer Intelligence Report found that healthcare cybersecurity professionals and decision makers see AI platforms as a possible way to address everything from threat intelligence to risk assessment and incident response. CRA is the parent company of SC Media.“The future of healthcare is going to be tech-based and tech-implemented as AI in healthcare comes to the fore,” predicted one survey respondent.“It will revolutionize medicine and healthcare as we know it and facilities that don’t adapt will disappear.”According to the survey, which sampled a cross section of 200 people in executive and security practitioner roles, 50% of healthcare organizations are already using AI tools in their cybersecurity practices.That number is set to soar in the coming months as an additional 40% of survey respondents said they plan for their organization to integrate one or more AI tools by the end of the year.The most popular use for AI is likely to be threat intelligence, as about 60% of respondents said the tools they’re rolling out will be in the threat intel and analysis space.The next most common use case for AI is set to be in the data analytics space, with 54% of respondents planning to integrate those tools. Also logging 54% in the survey was the adoption of risk assessment tools.The top five expected use cases for AI were rounded out by incident response platforms and tools designed to manage internet of medical things (IoMT) connected devices, each seeing 49% of respondents.IoMT management is seen as a particularly intriguing area of opportunity for AI integration. With a growing number of medical appliances and implants sporting network connectivity, admins are hard-pressed to keep current on firmware updates and threat monitoring.“With the increased use of wearable and IoT devices in healthcare, prioritizing the protection of these devices from vulnerabilities is essential,” explained one respondent.“Endpoint security, encryption, and device management will be vital elements of cybersecurity in healthcare.”While there is plenty of optimism around AI, there is also some concern for healthcare organizations, with about 69% of the respondents citing data security and privacy as a primary concern for AI use.Professionals also said they were concerned about AI security tools increasing spending (60%) and worried that staff will not be properly trained on how to implement and manage AI tools (59%).“The industry is ripe for AI utilization and is somewhat slower to integrate the technology due to ethical and legal hurdles,” said one respondent.“Cybersecurity will be enhanced with AI and could also reduce costs and increase value to all major stakeholders.”
