The next year in healthcare cybersecurity—what to expect

As we head into 2026, the healthcare industry’s cybersecurity priorities for the new year are becoming clear—and they’re expected to focus on identity and AI.

We found in 2025 that exposure of personal data and information can lead to future attacks through leaks and social engineering. IT Brew and Healthcare Brew reported on how healthcare workers are the front line of cybersecurity defense—and often stressed about it.

At least some of those defenses seem to be working: Although attacks on the sector increased in 2024 by 9.4%—part of what the HIPAA Journal called “the worst-ever year in terms of breached healthcare records”—incursions declined in 2025, early data suggests. However, the healthcare data of tens of millions of US citizens is still being breached.

Got ID? In healthcare, there’s a certain baseline of cyber insecurity that exists. The industry prioritizes saving lives over cyber hygiene, and patients may misunderstand what information is being shared, LexisNexis Risk Solutions President and GM of Healthcare Adam Mariano told IT Brew.

“This is a problem that we clearly need patients to understand and healthcare plan members to understand—when they share their data with an app or get engaged, or fill out a paper on a form, on a clipboard, what they’re actually sharing with folks,” Mariano said. “There’s a patient education component.”

For Mariano, identity access management is the key to decoding the future of healthcare cybersecurity. Digital identification and integration will take precedence in 2026, he told IT Brew, with an emphasis on finding a stable and secure approach to access.

“Nobody wants to let the wrong people into systems, and everybody is trying to figure out how to reduce friction because that’s how you improve provider throughput—you lower the burden on providers, you make sure that patients can be more engaged in their care, you increase compliance,” Mariano said. “When people find it easy to use the system, they use the system more often.”

Mariano’s ideal industry strategy would see new technologies like AI used to control data and system access. What would be helpful to the effort, he added, is a change in federal regulations aimed at helping patients navigate a labyrinthine healthcare system, following prior attempts to regulate the industry.

Shadow knows. But there are certain safeguards needed to avoid dangers like shadow AI. Alex Tyrrell, SVP and CTO of the health division at Wolters Kluwer, told IT Brew that unauthorized use of AI tools opened the door to danger for healthcare organizations in 2025.

Luckily, Tyrrell added, cybersecurity could tighten up next year, with crackdowns on shadow AI and other insecure practices. Device security is another important vector for defenders to protect.

“Most likely, we’re going to see a maturation within these organizations, more formalized, organization-wide frameworks that ensure the responsible use of AI,” Tyrrell said. “Training is going to be a key aspect and maintaining these guardrails, make sure the controls are in place.”