Education, Preparedness Key For Navigating Cyberattacks in Independent Pharmacies
John Riggi, national advisor for cybersecurity and risk at the American Hospital Association, discusses how pharmacists can assess their store’s vulnerability to cyberattacks.
In 2024, there were 276775457 health care data breaches, making it the worst year on record.1 As pharmacies increasingly rely on digital systems, they also face rising threats of cyberattacks. From protecting key patient data to ensuring continued access to critical medications, independent pharmacies have to take proactive steps to safeguard their systems.
The best place to start is to evaluate whether a pharmacy has a formal cybersecurity plan in place, said John Riggi. Riggi, who is the national advisor for cybersecurity and risk at the American Hospital Association, recommended using frameworks such as the Healthcare Cybersecurity Performance Goals and bringing in third-party experts to assess networks and systems.
Riggi also emphasized the importance of employee training. Staff should be made aware of the consequences of a breach, including loss of access to medications. Pharmacies also should build relationships with law enforcement and local FBI cyber units to help improve preparedness in case of a cyberattack.
We sat down with Riggi at the American Associated Pharmacies (AAP) Annual Conference, held April 10 to 12 in Austin, Texas, Drug Topics® to discuss the biggest cybersecurity mistakes that independent pharmacies make, how pharmacists can assess their store’s vulnerability to cyberattacks, the most effective ways to educate pharmacy staff on recognizing and preventing cyber threats, steps a pharmacy should take immediately after discovering malware in its system, and more.
“[Pharmacists need to] really understand cyber risk and that it's really everybody's responsibility to implement good cyber hygiene,” Riggi said. “Ultimately, what we're saying is that cyber hygiene is as important as medical hygiene to protect the patient. Help folks understand why we're doing all these technical things, why it's so hard to log into accounts, and why I need multi-factor authentication. It's not only about protecting the data, but also about protecting the patients.”
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References
1. The Biggest Healthcare Data Breaches of 2024. News Release. HIPPA Journal. March 19, 2025. Accessed April 17, 2025. https://www.hipaajournal.com/biggest-healthcare-data-breaches-2024/
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