Health care cyber security: Albania case study

Abstract

Nowadays real time communication is defining and at the same time conditioning our daily life. Increasing the volume of communications constitutes an added value to the economic and social development of a country, but at the same time exposes it to cyber risks. Health care is a favorite area to attack. Violation of healthcare data is a growing threat to the healthcare industry, causing not only data loss and monetary theft, but also attacks on medical equipment and infrastructure. An important aspect is the context of the place where the phenomenon is being studied. Albania is a developing country with a high middle income. it is important to note that Albania has experienced rapid development in terms of information and communication technology (ICT) in the last decade. During this time the number of internet users has increased spectacularly. The purpose of this paper is to analyze information security practices in Albanian public and private hospitals, in order to determine the level of Information Security in this sector, and to provide suggestions for improvements.