Assessment of cybersecurity awareness among healthcare professionals. A cross sectional study

Cybersecurity is a major concern in managing hospital data concerning patients, and its knowledge is requisite for all healthcare professionals. The aim of this study was to assess the awareness regarding cybersecurity amongst healthcare professionals in India. This cross-sectional survey study was conducted upon healthcare professionals. The questionnaire items were based on recommendations by the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security and the US Department of Health and Human Services. The survey forms were distributed through electronic mail. Institutional ethical committee clearance was obtained before beginning this study. Two hundred healthcare persons were randomly selected, and consent forms were taken. A total of 195 fully filled survey forms alongside consent forms were obtained. The inclusion criteria were a) healthcare professionals, b) those with access to computers for the acquisition/entry of data, and c) hospitals thatemployed software for the entry of data. The exclusion criteria of the study were a) anyone who was not in healthcare b) those with no accessibility to computers for the entry of data and c) those who did not consent for participating in the study. Statistical analysis: SPSS software tool was used for analyzing collected data. Results for independent questions were analyzed in form of percentage distribution for observational data. Low knowledge and awareness werefound among healthcare professionals with nursing and physiotherapy professionals have least awareness regarding cybersecurity requirement for storage and data protection in hospital set-ups.