In 2025, healthcare cybersecurity is no longer just about defending your own walls. It’s about hardening the entire network of partners, vendors, suppliers, and service providers on which your operations depend, as your vendors are under attack. Two recent reports make that clear: one from the American Hospital Association (AHA) and another from Comparitech.
How are cyber threats evolving in healthcare?
According to the AHA’s 2025 Cybersecurity Year in Review, healthcare continues to be a frequent target of data breaches and cyber incidents. As of early October, 364 hacking incidents had been reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights, affecting more than 33 million individuals.
The AHA report notes that while the forms of attack continue to evolve, from phishing and ransomware to exploitation of software vulnerabilities, many breaches persist because organizations still lack comprehensive, organization-wide frameworks for managing cybersecurity and third-party risk.
Meanwhile, Comparitech reports a troubling shift: ransomware attackers are increasingly focusing on vendors and third-party service providers rather than hospitals themselves. Attacks on healthcare businesses, including technology vendors, pharmaceutical firms, and billing providers, rose 51% — from 43 to 65 — over the past year.
Why does vendor and third-party exposure matter more than ever?
This evolution underscores a critical reality: even if your own systems are well defended, your extended ecosystem may be your greatest vulnerability.
A single vendor compromise can expose multiple downstream organizations that rely on that vendor’s systems or data. Attackers understand this dynamic. By breaching a third party with weaker defenses, they can gain entry to many targets at once — health systems, health plans, and business partners included.
Traditional approaches like securing internal systems and auditing a limited set of vendors are no longer enough. Effective cybersecurity now requires continuous oversight, consistent control standards, and validated assurance across the entire vendor network.
Table: Comparing internal vs. third-party cyber risk
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Aspect
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Internal Systems
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Third-Party Vendors
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Control
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High
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Varies by partner
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Visibility
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Direct
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Often limited
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Common Risks
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Phishing, malware, system exploits
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Supply chain attacks, vendor misconfigurations
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Breach Impact
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Isolated
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Cascading across clients and partners
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Mitigation Approach
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Framework-driven controls
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Continuous TPRM oversight and assurance
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Why is HITRUST TPRM the right strategic response?
If attackers are moving upstream, organizations must shift their defenses accordingly. A robust Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) program, anchored in the HITRUST framework, enables organizations to manage and reduce cyber risk across their ecosystems.
Built-in assurance through a trusted framework
The HITRUST Framework provides a prescriptive and scalable set of controls that are widely recognized across healthcare, finance, and technology sectors. A HITRUST-aligned TPRM approach standardizes expectations for vendors and streamlines the process of assessing and verifying their security posture.
TPRM is about prevention, not reaction
TPRM is about prevention, ensuring vendors have strong controls in place before a breach occurs. Continuous monitoring, policy enforcement, and clear accountability transform risk management from a reactive compliance exercise into an active defense strategy.
A business differentiator
As regulators, partners, and customers demand more transparency about cyber risk, organizations that can prove their TPRM maturity have a competitive advantage. Demonstrating HITRUST alignment signals that your organization and its vendors meet the highest standards of security assurance.
What steps should you take now?
- Reassess your vendor portfolio to identify which partners have access to sensitive data or critical systems.
- Move from periodic vendor assessments to continuous, data-driven oversight.
- Align your TPRM program with a trusted approach, such as HITRUST, to enforce consistency and accountability.
- Elevate third-party risk to a board-level discussion. It is a business risk, not just an IT concern.
In today’s environment, cyber attackers don’t need to breach your defenses directly, they can simply compromise someone you depend on. As ransomware and breach campaigns increasingly target vendors, organizations must recognize that the security of their ecosystem is inseparable from their own.
The only sustainable path forward is to embed cybersecurity and third-party risk management into the organization’s DNA. With HITRUST as the foundation, that shift becomes measurable, repeatable, and trustworthy.
