The healthcare sector is undergoing a digital transformation with cloud-based EHRs, connected care platforms, and AI-powered diagnostics are becoming the norm. Yet, with innovation comes vulnerability. Ransomware attacks are increasing in scale and impact, targeting hospitals and healthcare providers with devastating consequences from compromised patient data to paralyzed operations.

In this evolving threat landscape, it is no longer enough to focus solely on protection. Healthcare organizations need resilient security operations capable of not just of detecting and responding to threats, but adapting, recovering, and learning continuously. And that journey begins with understanding where they stand.

Starting Point: Assessing Maturity with SOC-CMM

Resilient security operations begin with clarity. The Security Operations Centre Capability Maturity Model (SOC-CMM) provides healthcare organizations with a structured approach to assess their current maturity across five critical domains: people, process, technology, business alignment, and continuous improvement.

SOC-CMM allows security leaders to:

• Diagnose gaps—such as lack of automation, threat intelligence usage, or business context in incident handling

• Benchmark maturity against industry best practices

• Prioritize investments based on risk, exposure, and clinical urgency

In the Indian context, many hospitals are still in early stages of security capability and maturity. SOC-CMM offers a scalable framework that both private and public healthcare institutions can adopt as a roadmap to build secure digital health infrastructure and also aligned with local and global regulatory compliance goals like HIPAA, GDPR, DPDPA etc.

The Evolving Threat Landscape in Healthcare

Healthcare systems are prime targets for cybercriminals due to the urgency of care delivery and the value of health records. 

A recent study from the Ponemon Institute’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2024, The average cost of a data breach globally reached $4.88 million in 2024, marking a 10% increase from the previous year. Healthcare sector remains the most affected industry in the report, with an average breach cost of $9.77 million. This high cost is attributed to the sensitivity of patient data and the critical nature of healthcare services.  

In India, we’ve seen ransomware attacks on major hospital chains, government labs, and diagnostic centers, including a high-profile breach at AIIMS Delhi in late 2022, which crippled operations for days.

Attackers leverage phishing, compromised credentials, and supply chain weaknesses to deliver ransomware or exfiltrate sensitive patient data.

Given India’s massive digital health push including platforms like ABDM (Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission), the stakes are higher than ever. Threat actors see India as a lucrative target due to fragmented security practices and inconsistent awareness across institutions.

Securing the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)

Among the most vulnerable yet under-monitored environments in healthcare are Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) devices. These include infusion pumps, ventilators, wearable diagnostics, and smart imaging systems.

In India, many imported medical devices lack local security certifications. Hospitals frequently operate heterogeneous IoMT environments sourced from various vendors and some without patching mechanisms or audit trails.

To secure IoMT devices, organizations should:

• Use specialized tools to identify and classify devices across networks.

• Apply network segmentation and Zero Trust principles.

• Implement AI-powered behavioral analytics (UEBA) to detect suspicious device activity.

• Incorporating IoMT security into SOC monitoring workflows is vital.

Key Technologies for Resilient Security Operations

Building resilient security operations requires an integrated stack of advanced technologies. Today’s SOC must leverage AI, automation, and intelligence to stay ahead of modern threats.

1. SIEM (Security Information and Event Management): Acts as the SOC’s data fusion center - aggregating logs from IT, clinical systems, and IoMT devices. In India, cloud-based SIEM adoption is growing, especially in hospital chains with multiple sites.

2. SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response): AI-enhanced SOAR reduces manual response time critical in healthcare providers understaffed cybersecurity teams, where one analyst could monitor thousands of alerts daily.

3. UEBA (User and Entity Behavior Analytics)

AI helps flag insider threats and credential misuse with shared login practices or outsourced IT support.

4. Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIPs): Integration with CERT-In and other global threat intelligence feeds, and healthcare sector-specific intelligence is essential. AI enhances triage by correlating external threats with local telemetry.

5. XDR (Extended Detection and Response): Useful for organizations without full-time SOCs and XDR consolidates visibility and response across endpoints, email, and network.

6. CCMP (Cyber Crisis Management Platform): Globally and also in India, healthcare providers are becoming more crisis-aware, especially after real-world disruptions. CCMP thereby helps orchestrate responses across, IT teams, Security team, Incident Reponse teams, Vendors, HR and legal/compliance units—reducing chaos and restoring operations faster.

Operational Framework for Resilience

Healthcare providers should adopt an operational model based on five strategic pillars:

1. Comprehensive Visibility: AI-assisted tools offer unified asset visibility—crucial in Indian environments where shadow IT and legacy systems coexist.

2. Zero Trust Architecture: With the rise of cloud-first health records and remote consultations, continuous verification and micro-segmentation are vital.

3. Incident Response Preparedness: Simulate ransomware scenarios with clinical and IT staff. CERT-In now mandates breach reporting within six hours—highlighting the need for rehearsed response playbooks.

4. Backup and Recovery: Offline, tested backups are essential. AI helps verify backup integrity and flag signs of compromise. Many Indian hospitals still lack a mature backup cadence.

5. Regulatory Alignment: India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA), HIPAA, GDPR, imposes strict breach notification and data handling requirements. Compliance must be embedded into SOC governance models.

Conclusion: Cybersecurity Is Clinical Safety

Whether it’s a ransomware hit in New York or a malware infection in Mumbai, the consequences are the same. Patients’ needs are delayed, operations paralyzed, and trust eroded. As India digitizes healthcare at scale, security must move in lockstep. Resilient security operations, underpinned by SOC-CMM maturity, powered by AI and automation, and aligned to local and global regulatory frameworks like DPDPA and HIPAA, are the only way forward. Cybersecurity in healthcare is not just a technical function it is a safeguard for life itself.