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A cyber “neighbourhood watch” for healthcare providers and industry is being set up to help protect Australians’ most sensitive information from cyber threats.

Recent cyber-attacks on healthcare organisations, including health funds and hospitals, have led the federal government to award $6.4m to CI-ISAC, a not-for-profit organisation providing cyber threat intelligence, to create a health-specific, information-sharing and analysis centre.

The health and medical sector holds a large amount of incredibly private and personal medical and financial information. We have already seen several high-profile data breaches in the health sector, and the new network can help members reduce their cyber risks. Cyber-attacks can also greatly disrupt important health services, and this industry cannot afford interruptions with patients’ wellbeing at stake.

Many in the healthcare sector would know well the philosophy that prevention is better than a cure. This also applies to cyber security and is the driving concept behind this grant.

Strong industry collaboration and enhanced threat detection through the work of CI-ISAC will increase the protection of Australians’ sensitive health data.