Improvements of Technical Blockchain to Combat Ransomware Attacks in Healthcare

Abstract

In the face of increasing cybersecurity threats, ransomware attacks have become a significant risk to critical sectors such as healthcare. As medical healthcare systems increasingly rely on electronic health records, they face heightened vulnerabilities that can compromise patient data and disrupt essential medical services. Ransomware attacks can encrypt and render critical medical records inaccessible, jeopardising patient care. This research aims to develop and evaluate a blockchain-based solution designed to secure medical healthcare records against ransomware, enhancing data integrity, availability, and security in healthcare systems. By leveraging blockchain technology, specifically by using smart contracts and decentralised applications on the Ethereum platform, the proposed solution creates a decentralised, immutable medical record management system. The system's robustness is demonstrated through a Python-based ransomware simulation, which compares locally stored medical data with data managed via blockchain. The findings show that the blockchain-based approach and smart contracts maintain data integrity and availability during ransomware attacks, preventing unauthorised access and ensuring continuous healthcare operations. These results suggest that adopting blockchain technology in healthcare can significantly mitigate the risks posed by ransomware, reduce operational disruptions, and protect patient data from evolving cyber threats, ultimately providing a scalable and secure solution for enhancing cybersecurity in the healthcare sector.