Introduction: As healthcare becomes increasingly technology-dependent, cyberattacks are rising in parallel with the growing frequency and severity of natural disasters. Cyber criminals are strategically exploiting system vulnerabilities during disaster response periods, creating a dangerous nexus of simultaneous threats to healthcare organizations. This study investigates the frequency of concurrent cyberattacks and natural disasters targeting healthcare entities, analyzing emerging patterns and common vulnerabilities to inform more resilient security strategies. Methods: In collaboration with the research team, the medical librarian developed and executed comprehensive searches in Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science Core Collection, Cochrane Library (via Wiley), and IEEE Xplore on August 14, 2024. To capture all relevant literature about cyberattacks occurring with natural disasters, relevant keywords and controlled vocabulary were carefully selected. The remaining results underwent title and abstract screening, followed by full-text screening by two research team members in Covidence. The included full texts were then analyzed for pertinent data about the co-occurrence of natural disasters and cyberattacks affecting healthcare facilities. Results: A total of 2,502 results were retrieved; duplicates were removed, and 2,209 unique results remained. 110 articles were screened based on title and abstract, then the remaining articles underwent full-text screening, and 43 articles were included in the study. These articles included almost exclusively cyberattacks during the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority occurred in the US, UK, and Ireland. Common themes included increasing reliance on technology and remote work increased the risk of cyberattacks, with a multitude of recommendations on how to better protect hospital systems from future attacks. Conclusion: With the increase in cyberattacks and natural disasters, we will likely see an increasing co-occurrence. Future work needs to concentrate on increasing cybersecurity to diminish threats to healthcare systems, to prevent morbidity and mortality, protect personal information, and prevent financial losses.
Davis et al. (Sun,) studied this question.