This article is by Hexnode CEO and Founder Apu Pavithran.
Year after year, healthcare struggles to close device backdoors and protect its endpoint ecosystem. The challenge, of course, is no mean feat – more than 6,000 hospitals across the United States manage 10 to 15 connected devices per bed with hardware that can last much longer than software. However, known vulnerabilities too often give way to unauthorized access, data loss, and ransom demands.
In many cases, admins aren’t updating devices fast enough. Sophos reported in October that exploited vulnerabilities have overtaken credential-based attacks as the top technical cause of healthcare ransomware, accounting for one-third of incidents. Unpatched devices and systems, rather than compromised passwords, are now the sector’s biggest threat for the first time in three years.
This is a dangerous state of affairs heading into 2026. Bad actors increasingly deploy automated vulnerability discovery to find and exploit these assets. Let’s explore how healthcare can strengthen security, keep systems up to date, and improve endpoint hygiene.
Health Still Struggles with Endpoint Patching
Cybersecurity in this landscape is a game of cat-and-mouse – attack methods shift as defenses improve, only to be reinvented to exploit new vulnerabilities. Today, hackers see patching (or lack thereof) as their most likely way in. This is because legacy devices are inherently vulnerable, the need for uptime sometimes prevents general software updates, and the fear of rollback can prevent action. Bad actors are exploiting all three gaps. According to the Sophos report, 41% of healthcare ransomware victims had known security gaps left unaddressed.
Adding to the degree of difficulty: it’s anyone’s guess how many devices carry potentially exploitable designs. This point came into focus in February when the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) reported weaknesses in certain patient monitors. The firmware on these devices was found to contain hidden functionality that acts as a reverse backdoor, connecting to a hardcoded IP address to siphon data and receive commands. In some cases, the vulnerability could allow attackers to upload and execute unverified files on these devices, altering their functionality and posing a risk to patient health.
Going forward, admins must keep in mind that modern medical devices are the legacy endpoints of tomorrow, making visibility into and control over this ecosystem more important than ever. Poor digital hygiene only increases the likelihood of attacks in the current climate.
Hackers Automatically Find Known Vulnerabilities
This attack vector is exacerbated by automated hackers finding success at scale. While healthcare patches are applied manually or quarterly, if at all, attackers constantly scan networks for unpatched weaknesses. AI-powered vulnerability discovery operates 24/7, enabling in minutes what once took human reconnaissance and technical sophistication.
A weakness in a single device could become an entry point into imaging systems, electronic health records, and wider networks. AI-powered tools now enable attacks that are both deeper and wider in scope, a serious escalation for surveyed teams already showing anxiety about future attacks (37%) and reporting stress-related absences (24%).
Even as the economics shift in healthcare’s favor – average ransom demands have plummeted more than 90% in the past 12 months – the sector remains a prime target. Why? Because patient data is uniquely sensitive and valuable. Unlike stolen credit card numbers, which can be quickly canceled, medical records contain permanent information such as diagnoses, treatments, social security numbers, and insurance details. This gives attackers leverage even without encrypting systems. In fact, extortion attacks where data isn’t encrypted but healthcare providers are held to ransom anyway tripled this year to 12% of incidents, the highest rate across all industries surveyed.
The good news is that admins are being outpaced rather than outsmarted. If healthcare can automate and accelerate patching to keep pace with attackers, ransomware and data extortion are likely to decline.
Fighting Back in 2026 and Beyond
Let’s not give hackers an inch by actively monitoring healthcare ecosystems and rapidly fixing software weaknesses. Start with unified endpoint management (UEM) to understand what’s connected and how it’s functioning from a central console. These platforms enable pain-free compliance by automating patch management and pushing updates during off-peak hours. For admins concerned about compatibility, UEM also simplifies pre-rollout testing and post-deployment validation. Particularly when hackers are targeting known vulnerabilities, healthcare needs to stop making excuses and start patching.
Bolster this with complementary solutions. Extended detection and response (XDR) provides a reactive security layer that flags any other emerging threats. Zero-trust architecture then ensures that even if credentials are compromised, lateral movement across systems remains restricted. Finally, if there’s budget and appetite to replace devices, Android is a good healthcare option with cost-effective, versatile endpoints built for regular security updates rather than years-long refresh cycles.
It’s worth noting that healthcare’s ransomware posture isn’t all bad. In addition to ransom demands dropping, recovery costs are also down 60% year-over-year and 97% of breached operators successfully recovered their encrypted data. The takeaway? Healthcare is getting better at responding to breaches but must stop them from getting to this stage. This demands an immediate shift from reactive resilience to proactive prevention.
We’re winning the wider ransomware war – we just need to keep fighting the battle for endpoint hygiene and nipping known vulnerabilities in the bud.
Apu Pavithran
Apu Pavithran is the founder and CEO of Hexnode and a recognized consultant, speaker, and thought leader in the IT management community with a focus on governance and information security.
