Healthcare organizations are under siege from a growing wave of AI cyber threats and digital vulnerabilities. A new report from LevelBlue, the 2025 Spotlight Report, reveals sharp increases in breaches. Furthermore, it highlights the growing concern about healthcare preparedness.
According to a global survey of 220 healthcare executives, attacks have increased by 46%. Over the past 12 months, the breach rate has risen by 32%. It is concerning that only 29% of leaders believe they are prepared to handle the challenges posed by AI. LevelBlue’s Chief Evangelist, Theresa Lanowitz, spearheaded the report. It urges immediate action and investments in cyber resilience and healthcare security from the industry.
Are AI Cyber Threats Beating Healthcare Defenses?
The report shows that healthcare is struggling to keep up with AI cyber threats. Cyberattacks have increased, despite the fact that nearly half of the executives polled expressed confidence in their ability to respond.
Only 29% believed their systems were ready for AI-driven threats, despite 41% expecting targeted attacks soon. However, the report highlights a significant disconnect between healthcare security awareness and action.
Another significant issue in the software supply chain is visibility, which goes beyond AI. Most healthcare executives (54%) admitted that they didn’t know much about the digital tools they were using. Furthermore, only 21% of respondents said they had made a sizable investment in this field, highlighting the necessity of proactive risk management.
Healthcare Boosts Cyber Resilience Across Operations
LevelBlue found that 61% of healthcare organizations are now aligning cybersecurity teams with core business units. This indicates that cyber resilience is now viewed as a business necessity rather than an IT task. Budgeting habits are also changing. Today, almost half of executives (43%) incorporate security funding into innovation by allocating it at the outset of new projects.
Reliance on external expertise is growing. In the past two years, 44% of respondents intend to use managed security services, compared to just 30% last year. Additionally, this trend reflects the healthcare industry’s internal resource shortages as well as growing threats. Theresa Lanowitz highlighted the urgency: “Cybersecurity has become a business priority, not just an IT issue.”
Where Will Healthcare Security Investments Go Next?
The report highlights where future investments are heading. Most notable is the use of generative AI to detect social engineering attacks, adopted by 28% of organisations. This is followed by investments in resilience processes (26%), application security (25%), and pattern-matching tools (24%). Furthermore, adoption of Zero Trust Architecture is at 15%, indicating an early but consistent interest in structural defenses.
The shift from reactive defence to proactive strategy is clear. LevelBlue suggests that all departments take responsibility for cybersecurity. Organisations should also raise cyber resilience higher in the leadership agenda to ensure sustained protection.
Healthcare stood out from the rest of the survey because of its growing attack surface and volume of personal data. Therefore, leaders need to view healthcare security as a continuous, changing process rather than a one-time solution.
Will AI Cyber Threats Overwhelm Healthcare?
The rise of AI cyber threats exposes major vulnerabilities in healthcare’s digital defences. Even though team alignment has improved and outside expertise has been invested, there are still a lot of gaps. Additionally, it will be crucial to integrate cyber resilience into the company’s operations as threats grow more complex and focused. It is more important than ever to prioritize healthcare security. Thus, even though only a small number of organizations are prepared.
About The Author
