Health and Social Care

All businesses need protection against cyber-attack. Healthcare practitioners handle special category health data including mental health records, treatment notes, medical histories, and sensitive personal information every day. Client health records, session notes, referral information, and payment details are prime targets for cyber criminals.

CyberSolver was created to provide simple low-cost solutions for healthcare practitioner SMEs to protect their business and clients. Our six tailored solutions are designed to get businesses focused on what really matters. What do we offer specifically for SMEs in the healthcare sector?

The Growing Threat to Healthcare Practice

Healthcare practitioners are increasingly reliant on digital platforms, online booking systems, cloud-based practice management software, telehealth platforms, and electronic health records. These systems introduce new risks:

Data breaches of health records - attackers target special category data which has high value on the dark web and can be used for identity theft or blackmail.
Phishing and social engineering - staff are targeted with urgent requests related to client appointments, referrals, and insurance claims.
Insecure telehealth and practice management platforms - you may think cloud services eliminate responsibility for security but misconfigured systems can expose client health data or allow unauthorised access.
Staff and locums - accidental and in some cases malicious activity can result in serious breaches of client confidentiality and therapeutic trust.

Attackers know that health data is particularly sensitive and valuable. They exploit the trust inherent in the therapeutic relationship and the often solo or small-practice nature of healthcare services. Even a single breach can lead to ICO fines, reputational damage, loss of client trust, and professional body sanctions. While this may sound alarming, these types of attacks can be largely prevented through focused security controls.

Digging deeper into the problem for healthcare practitioners

Healthcare practitioners handle special category data under GDPR (health information, sexual orientation, mental health details) requiring enhanced protection. Professional bodies like the BACP ethical framework mandate specific data retention periods (typically six years for adults, until age 25 for minors treated as children). Healthcare practitioners are increasingly targeted by attackers using:

Compromised logins due to password reuse and lack of multi-factor authentication on practice management systems.
Poorly secured cloud storage used for session notes and client records.
Telehealth platform vulnerabilities that can expose therapy sessions or client communications.
Lack of encryption for client records and communications.
Lack of awareness especially among sole practitioners and small practices with limited IT support.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) requires data breaches involving special category health data to be reported within 72 hours. Many practitioners work as sole operators with limited security budgets, making them particularly vulnerable. Client trust is fundamental to the therapeutic relationship, and data breaches can be professionally devastating and result in professional body sanctions.

What can you do?

Start with low-cost, high-impact actions

As a minimum, consider the following:

Train yourself and your staff - especially on handling health data, secure communications with clients, and recognising phishing.
Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) - on email, practice management systems, telehealth platforms, and cloud storage.
Encrypt client data - ensure session notes, health records, and client communications are encrypted both in storage and in transit.
Review data retention - ensure you're following professional body requirements for how long you keep client records and how you securely dispose of them.

If you're managing a larger practice or working with multiple practitioners, you should:

Create privacy policies and consent forms - that clearly explain to clients how their health data is used, stored, and protected.
Create an incident response plan - include steps for ICO breach reporting (within 72 hours), client notification, and professional body reporting.
Restrict access - review processes and access controls to ensure only authorised practitioners access client health records.

If you've got the basics covered and want to go further, run a full risk assessment covering your systems, staff, and suppliers and implement simple processes to track cyber maturity and demonstrate compliance with GDPR, ICO, and professional body requirements.

CyberSolver's six solutions — which one is right for you?

While generalised recommendations are helpful, there's no substitute for focusing on your business, your priorities, and your specific risks. CyberSolver helps you take practical, affordable steps to protect your operations. Whether you're just starting or ready to invest, we offer six packaged solutions geared up to healthcare practitioner SMEs:

Bullet points:

Use Risk Reduction when you don't know where to start. We'll identify your greatest risks and give you a prioritised, pragmatic plan of action.
Use Compliance when you need to meet GDPR, ICO expectations, BACP requirements, or other professional body standards.
Use Staff Awareness to reduce human risk with training tailored to healthcare practitioners and support staff.
Use Resilience to build your breach response capability and strengthen technical defences.
Use vCISO for low-cost executive and board-level strategy, prioritisation, and reporting.
Use the CyberSolver Toolkit for templates, playbooks, and repeatable operational artefacts.