When it comes to cybersecurity in the pharma industry, having an online presence means vulnerability to cyber-attacks.    

As cybercrime becomes more sophisticated, pharma companies are plagued by cyberattacks that can be both advanced and persistent.   

For pharma companies, any cyber-attack has the potential to both wreck both operations and damage a company’s reputation. For pharmaceutical companies, the implications are particularly dangerous. 

Leading pharmaceutical companies manage an array of assets. These generally include infrastructure, applications, managed and unmanaged endpoints, mobile devices, and cloud services, all of which can be attacked. 

Global security spending is expected to reach $198bn by 2025. Over the same period, hardware spending will increase from $26.5bn to $40.7bn, a CAGR of 10%. Services will record the smallest CAGR, 5%, rising from $47.9bn in 2020 to $60.7bn in 2025.  

Trends: Cybersecurity in Pharma – Impact of Covid-19   

Work-from-home mandates forced cybersecurity initiatives to move quickly.  The rush to remote working in many places around the world in mid-March 2020 meant that many corporate IT security teams did not have enough time to put security defences in place to protect cyber-naïve home workers.   

Soon after lockdown, law enforcement agencies warned of a large increase in pandemic-related fraud, using tactics designed to piggyback on Covid-19-related issues.   

Examples included phishing emails relating to sales of fake coronavirus test kits and personal protective equipment (PPE).   

Discover the leading cybersecurity companies for the pharmaceutical industry  

Using its experience in the sector, Pharmaceutical Technology has listed some of the leading companies providing products and services related to cybersecurity.  

The information provided in the download document is drafted for pharmaceutical executives and technology leaders involved in pharmaceutical cybersecurity solutions.  

The download contains detailed information on suppliers and their product offerings, alongside contact details to aid purchase or hiring decisions.  

Amongst the leading suppliers of cybersecurity in the pharmaceutical industry are Sensato, Upguard, Fortinet, Hashed Health, CynergisTek, Atos, BridgeHead Solutions, CyberMaxx, Protenus, and ClearDATA.  

Targeted cybercrime in pharma and healthcare  

During the pandemic, sophisticated hackers also targeted hospitals with ransomware and used a popular university dashboard showing Covid-19 cases as a vehicle to deliver Android spyware.   

While some companies have had a remote working structure in place for several years, many preferred their staff to work from offices.   

Suddenly, the entire organisation had to be allowed to work remotely, so the breadth and depth of remote working – and the risk – dramatically increased.   

Firms already looking for cost reductions across functions will ask themselves if they have the right model for security and whether they should look at cybersecurity differently as part of any post-Covid-19 corporate transformation.