Journal:Emerging cybersecurity threats in radiation oncology
| Full article title | Emerging cybersecurity threats in radiation oncology |
|---|---|
| Journal | Advances in Radiation Oncology |
| Author(s) | Joyce, Christine; Roman, Faustin L.; Miller, Brett; Jeffries, John; Miller, Robert C. |
| Author affiliation(s) | The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Medical IT Advisors, University of Tennessee Medical Center |
| Primary contact | Email: rcmiller at utmck dot edu |
| Year published | 2021 |
| Volume and issue | 6(6) |
| Article # | 100796 |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.adro.2021.100796 |
| ISSN | 2452-1094 |
| Distribution license | Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International |
| Website | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452109421001548 |
| Download | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452109421001548/pdfft (PDF) |
 |
This article should be considered a work in progress and incomplete. Consider this article incomplete until this notice is removed. |
Abstract
Purpose: Modern image-guided radiation therapy is dependent on information technology and data storage applications that, like any other digital technology, are at risk from cyberattacks. Owing to a recent escalation in cyberattacks affecting radiation therapy treatments, the American Society for Radiation Oncology's Advances in Radiation Oncology is inaugurating a new special manuscript category devoted to cybersecurity issues.
Methods and materials: We conducted a review of emerging cybersecurity threats and a literature review of cyberattacks that affected radiation oncology practices.
Results: In the last 10 years, numerous attacks have led to an interruption of radiation therapy for thousands of patients, and some of these catastrophic incidents have been described as being worse than coronavirus disease 2019's impact on healthcare centers in New Zealand.
Conclusions: Cybersecurity threats continue to evolve, making combatting these attacks more difficult for healthcare organizations, requiring a change in strategies, tactics, and culture around cybersecurity in health and radiation oncology. We recommend an "assume-breach" mentality (threat-informed defense posture) and adopting a cloud-first and zero-trust security strategy. A reliance on computer-driven technology makes radiation oncology practices more vulnerable to cyberattacks. Healthcare providers should increase their resilience and cybersecurity maturity. The increase in the diversity of these attacks demands improved preparedness and collaboration between oncologic treatment centers both nationwide and internationally to protect patients.
Keywords: cybersecurity, radiation oncology
Introduction
References
Notes
This presentation is faithful to the original, with only a few minor changes to presentation, grammar, and punctuation. In some cases important information was missing from the references, and that information was added. Everything else remains true to the original article, per the "NoDerivatives" portion of the distribution license.
