Modern-day healthcare is driven by digital. Hospitals depend on technology to carry out their operative and administrative tasks where they store patient-related information digitally. It is the primary reason why healthcare was the top targeted sector last year.  

There were 703 data breaches (with 500+ records exposed) in the healthcare sector in the US alone, between Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2024, exposing about 180 million people worldwide.

It proves that an effective mechanism to secure all the information assets and critical healthcare operations must be for the healthcare industry. This is where the amalgamation of software-defined networks (SDN) and AI (Artificial Intelligence) comes into the picture. Let us understand how SDN and AI can help organizations in rendering effective cybersecurity.

What is Software Defined Network (SDN)?

Software Defined Network is a modern approach where networks are managed using software instead of hardware (like routers, firewalls, etc.).

It is a more secure way of managing networks.

Through software-defined networks, administrators can gain visibility of what is happening in the network and what data is passed around. It eases the monitoring of performance and checking of security issues.

The role that SDN plays in cybersecurity is that it allows organizations to establish control of what data flows in the network.

Through it, an organization can gain single-point control of the network with access to configurations/settings of all the network-related software in one place, making it easier to add new users without having to incur additional costs or make changes to the hardware.

It assists network administrators in detecting whether there are any suspicious activities. For example, if there is a sudden increase in traffic, SDN can check and confirm whether it is a suspicious activity.

Therefore, SDN makes the job of security and compliance a whole lot easier.

Benefits of SDN

The following are some of the benefits of SDN:

Reduces the risk of data breach

SDNs ensure secure transit of data across different networks and departments, reducing the overall risk of data breaches.

Ensures adherence to compliance regulations

With SDNs, organizations can meet information security and cybersecurity requirements mandated by regulatory bodies like HIPAA.  

Helps in dealing with change management

SDNs make it easier for organizations to adapt to technological changes without incurring additional costs or causing operational disruption to services.

Decreases the overall downtime due to cyber threats

Organizations can reduce the overall downtime caused due to threats and reduce the possibility of equipment failure in healthcare.

Enables quick access to information

Through effective rerouting of the data and faster access to information, it can help healthcare organizations quickly perform critical operations.

How do Software Defined Network (SDN) and AI help with cybersecurity in the healthcare industry?

Monitoring and response

Software Defined Networks (SDN) can help organizations detect unusual activity within a network.  With AI, organizations can perform network monitoring to detect devices attempting to connect. It can perform an on-the-spot analysis of the behavior and compare it with the previous threat patterns and alert systems in case of something fishy.  

Data security

SDNs can check whether effective encryption measures are in place during data transit between healthcare departments. AI can analyze whether the healthcare data was previously accessed by any user. Based on the analysis, it can block suspicious/unauthorized users.

Network security

By segmenting the network, SDN reduces the overall impact of an attack. AI can analyze the latest cyber threats and take measures to prevent the threat from affecting systems. It can further isolate a threat and help in containing damage.

Threat prediction

SDNs can analyze whether there is an unusual increase in traffic. It can make network rule changes to reduce cyber-attacks, reroute data, and redistribute bandwidth to areas with more traffic. This can ensure that healthcare services are not disrupted. AI can analyze why certain parts of a network are more targeted than others.