Industry Specific , Targeting Healthcare , Video

How Deepfakes and Misinformation Attacks Threaten Healthcare

The prospect of attackers using advanced voice impersonation, deepfake technologies and misinformation campaigns against healthcare sector entities is a serious threat that entities need to be closely monitoring, says Dave Summit, vice president of cybersecurity at Florida Cancer Specialists and Research Institute.

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"We're going to see much more of that increase. The ability to fake someone's voice and make a phone call and get something done is a scary thing that could happen," he says.

For example, "there could be a time where you may think you have me on this video and it may be a complete deepfake and I'm saying things that are completely wrong and it's going to be taken [as fact]," he says, adding that if that happens with clinical care workers, it could be "very deadly" for patients.

"Those are areas that that we need to be watching out for in the future."

In this video interview with Information Security Media Group, Summit also discusses:

• Other top threats and challenges facing the healthcare sector;
• Incentives to make healthcare cybersecurity more competitive;
• Building strong healthcare cybersecurity teams.

Summit has nearly 40 years of experience in IT for both the federal and private sectors. In the past 15 years, he has been developing security teams and implementing cybersecurity management programs. Summit has held security roles within national healthcare organizations and the U.S. Department of Defense and previously served as CISO at the Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute.