Executive Summary

The Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center (Health-ISAC) has published its 2026 Global Health Sector Threat Landscape report, providing a data-driven analysis of the most significant cybersecurity challenges facing the healthcare industry. The report's top finding, derived from a survey of industry executives, is that AI-enabled attacks are the number one projected threat for 2026. This indicates a growing concern about the potential for artificial intelligence to create more sophisticated and evasive social engineering campaigns, malware, and attack strategies. The report also reiterates the ongoing critical risks from supply chain vulnerabilities and ransomware, which continue to cause major disruptions across the sector.

Report Details

• Publisher: Health-ISAC
• Report Title: 2026 Global Health Sector Threat Landscape
• Publication Date: January 26, 2026
• Data Sources: The report synthesizes data from multiple sources, including:
  • A survey of healthcare executives and cybersecurity professionals (conducted November 2025).
  • Health-ISAC's Ransomware Events Database.
  • Over 1,200 Targeted Alerts issued by Health-ISAC in 2025.

Key Findings

1. AI-Enabled Attacks as the Top Concern: For the first time, AI-driven threats have been ranked as the top concern by healthcare leaders. This includes fears of AI-powered phishing and vishing, deepfakes used for fraud, and AI-generated polymorphic malware that can evade traditional defenses.

2. Persistent Supply Chain Risk: The healthcare sector remains highly vulnerable to supply chain attacks. A compromise at a single software vendor, medical device manufacturer, or service provider can have a cascading impact on hundreds of healthcare delivery organizations (HDOs).

3. Ransomware Remains a Top Impact Threat: While AI is the top projected concern, ransomware continues to be one of the most impactful threats in practice. Ransomware attacks on hospitals lead to canceled appointments, diverted ambulances, and direct risks to patient safety.

Affected Organizations

The report's findings are relevant to the entire global Healthcare ecosystem, including:

• Hospitals and clinics (HDOs)
• Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies
• Medical device manufacturers
• Health insurance providers
• Public health agencies

Impact Assessment

The report signals a critical turning point for healthcare cybersecurity. The convergence of these top three threats creates a highly challenging environment:

• Increased Sophistication: AI will make existing threats like phishing and ransomware more effective and harder to detect. For example, AI can generate highly convincing, personalized phishing emails at scale or create ransomware variants that change their code to evade EDR.
• Expanded Attack Surface: The reliance on a complex web of third-party suppliers means that a vulnerability in a single component can expose a vast number of organizations.
• Patient Safety at Risk: Unlike in other industries, cybersecurity incidents in healthcare can have life-or-death consequences. Disrupted systems can delay diagnoses, alter treatment plans, and make patient data unavailable during emergencies.

Compliance & Strategic Guidance

The Health-ISAC report urges organizations to shift from a reactive to a proactive and resilient posture. Key recommendations include:

1. Threat-Informed Defense: Use threat intelligence from sources like Health-ISAC to understand the specific TTPs being used against the sector and prioritize defenses accordingly.
2. Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM): Implement a robust TPRM program. This includes thorough vetting of new vendors, contractual security requirements, and ongoing monitoring of the supply chain.
3. AI Defense Strategies: Begin developing strategies to counter AI-driven attacks. This includes advanced email security that can detect sophisticated social engineering, user training on deepfake identification, and focusing on behavioral-based endpoint detection.
4. Resilience and Business Continuity: Acknowledge that incidents will happen. Invest heavily in business continuity and disaster recovery plans that are specific to cyber scenarios. This includes maintaining offline backups, running regular recovery tests, and having clear downtime procedures.