How to Utilize E-EWS as a Tool in Healthcare

Abstract

ECHO (the European network of Cybersecurity centres and competence Hub for innovation and Operations) is one of the four pilot projects under the European Commission’s H2020 Program. This work-in-progress paper relates to the project’s task “ECHO Early-Warning Systems (E-EWS) / ECHO Federated Cyber Range (E-FCR) Demonstration Workshops” that will be implemented during 2021 and 2022. As the healthcare industry becomes more connected to the Internet, the possibilities for disastrous cyber-attacks rise accordingly. Well-performing warning systems and robust information sharing between different parties are essential tools to help prevent these attacks. The aim of this paper is to find out how to utilize E-EWS as a tool in the healthcare sector. We started by mapping out the existing Early Warning Systems related to healthcare. At the same time, we researched the different implementations of E-EWS into already existing national systems and how possible information sharing could be done. As a result, we found that there does not seem to be any widely used international Early Warning Systems in use in the healthcare field and can conclude that implementing E-EWS could have significant benefits for the whole industry. A working Early Warning System can help to prevent cyber threats and save lives. However, there are many challenges involved in the implementation. First, the healthcare field is very fragmented with many different private and national actors, and second, the structural differences between different EU countries bring their own problems. Thus, the successful implementation of E-EWS in healthcare depends mainly on how all the different actors can cooperate.