Development of Rapid Response Plan for Radiation Oncology in Response to Cyberattack

Abstract

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The burden of cyberattacks on blood management and conservation efforts

“…1 To encourage proactivity and contingency planning, some organizations have penned editorials describing the burden of cybersecurity breaches on the provision of their services. [2][3][4][5] In this letter, we share the impact of cyberattacks on provincial blood management.…”

Emerging Cybersecurity Threats in Radiation Oncology

“…17 In the Fall of 2020, there was a series of cyberattacks on United States healthcare institutions nationwide, including one in October of 2020 where the University of Vermont Health Network experienced a cyber-attack that subsequently halted radiation therapy at their facility. 18 In April of 2021, a cyberattack affected Elekta's cloud-based storage system for radiation oncology data. This impacted 42 sites across the United States out of 170 customers.…”

Are you ready for a cyberattack?

“…As there was a complete lack of information about restoration of services, patients were prioritized based on clinical need. 3 Urgent cases were transferred to a network affiliate while other less urgent patients with complex plans sustained longer delays. Using these strategies, high priority patients had delays of only 2–4 days while it was approaching 2 weeks before prostate and other less urgent patients resumed treatment.…”

“…As there was a complete lack of information about restoration of services, patients were prioritized based on clinical need 3 . Urgent cases were transferred to a network affiliate while other less urgent patients with complex plans sustained longer delays.…”