A patient sitting in a waiting room hands over an Emirates ID and a file of medical history. It feels routine, but in that moment they are trusting the hospital with something more valuable than money. They are trusting it with their dignity.
Across the world, hospitals have been forced to cancel operations, clinics have had records published online, and entire health systems have been frozen by ransomware. The region has also felt this pressure, a reminder that even here healthcare is a target. These incidents show us what happens when safeguards are weak and why the law already speaks clearly on how to prevent it.
In many attacks, criminals entered through something simple like a phishing email or a weak login. Once inside, they reached both medical and financial files. The law in the region requires that sensitive medical information is handled separately and securely. Clinical systems must not sit side by side with payroll or billing platforms. Segmentation is not only good practice, it is a legal duty.
In other incidents, attackers copied out enormous amounts of data without anyone noticing until it was too late. The law requires organisations to monitor how information moves and to act when unusual activity occurs. Large transfers of patient records should never pass without immediate alerts.
Globally, some institutions worsened the damage by keeping records far longer than needed. Old files became fuel for attackers. The law in the region requires that information is only kept when there is a clear purpose. Minimisation is not optional. It is a legal requirement and one of the strongest protections against risk.
Communication has also been a point of failure. Patients have sometimes been told that downtime was due to a system update, even when the truth was far more serious. The law here requires timely and accurate communication when risks to data arise. Anything less is a breach of compliance and a deeper breach of trust.
From these lessons, the preventive measures are clear. Keep less data. Separate medical and non-medical systems. Monitor how records move. Train staff to recognise threats. Secure backups and rehearse recovery so that patient care continues even under pressure. And when something goes wrong, speak with honesty. These are not abstract ideas. They are already embedded in the law.
Cyber insurance is another layer of protection that cannot be ignored. When a hospital is hit by a ransomware attack, the costs extend far beyond lost access to files. There are the expenses of investigating the breach, restoring the systems, hiring technical experts, and sometimes negotiating with criminals. There are also potential claims from patients whose information has been exposed and possible fines from regulators. A cyber insurance policy is designed to step in at that point. It can cover the cost of forensic investigations, legal defence, patient notification, and even public relations support. Some policies also give immediate access to specialist response teams who can contain the attack and guide the institution through recovery. In simple terms, cyber insurance is not a substitute for compliance or technical safeguards, but it is a safety net that ensures an organisation can survive financially and operationally when an incident does occur.
Health data in the region is more than information. It is part of our critical infrastructure and part of patient care. Criminals should never be able to turn privacy into leverage. Our role has been to help providers test their structures against the law, adjust policies, and build the culture that makes these safeguards real. The framework is already in place. The responsibility now is to live it every day.
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