Vulnerability Management in Healthcare: How to Stay Secure, Compliant, and Resilient

The healthcare industry continues to face an alarming rise in cyberattacks, and a large part of the risk stems from known, yet unaddressed, vulnerabilities. According to a recent report by the Department of Health and Human Services in partnership with the Health Sector Coordinating Council: 

• 96% of hospitals are running systems and software with known vulnerabilities. 
• Only 53% have a documented plan to address these weaknesses. 
• 57% of hospitals that suffered cyberattacks said the breach could have been prevented with timely patching. 
• Shockingly, 34% of them were aware of the vulnerability but took no action. 

In an environment where downtime can delay treatment and expose sensitive data, vulnerability management is not a luxury, it is a lifesaving necessity. 

Why Vulnerability Management is Non-Negotiable in Healthcare 

Healthcare is uniquely vulnerable to cyber threats for several reasons: 

• Sensitive Data: Systems store protected health information (PHI), financial records, and personal identifiers. 
• Legacy Systems: Many hospitals still rely on outdated software that lacks vendor support. 
• Third-Party Dependencies: Medical devices and integrated platforms widen the attack surface. 
• Resource Constraints: Smaller healthcare providers often lack dedicated security teams or tools. 

A single missed patch or unscanned API could compromise thousands of patient records, violate HIPAA compliance, or even threaten patient safety. 

Top Vulnerability Management Risks in Healthcare 

The healthcare sector faces a uniquely complex threat landscape. From safeguarding Protected Health Information (PHI) to maintaining 24/7 system availability, organizations must navigate stringent compliance mandates while facing increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. Yet, vulnerability management in this sector often lags due to outdated infrastructure, budget constraints, and operational challenges.  

Below are the most pressing risks:

Legacy Systems and Outdated Software

Many healthcare facilities continue to rely on legacy electronic health records (EHRs), medical devices, and administrative platforms. These systems often no longer receive security patches or updates, leaving them exposed to known exploits. Attackers actively target these outdated systems, knowing they are unlikely to be fixed in time. 

Real-World Impact: Vulnerabilities in outdated operating systems like Windows Server 2008 or legacy EMR platforms are commonly exploited in ransomware attacks. 

Shadow IT and Untracked Assets

Healthcare networks are often sprawling, with various departments spinning up their own applications, test environments, and cloud services. These untracked or “shadow” assets are rarely monitored, scanned, or patched, making them ideal entry points for attackers. 

Risk Factor: Unmanaged APIs and web portals may expose sensitive patient data without being included in routine security assessments. 

Delayed or Missed Patching

Patching is often deprioritized in healthcare due to concerns about downtime, interoperability with clinical systems, and a lack of dedicated security staff. This leads to a backlog of known vulnerabilities that remain unpatched for extended periods even when fixes are available. 

Statistic: According to a 2023 HHS report, 57% of cyberattacks in hospitals could have been prevented by applying available patches. 

Infrequent and Incomplete Scanning

Some healthcare institutions conduct vulnerability scans only annually or quarterly and may skip authenticated scans that require logging into applications. This leaves a significant portion of web application vulnerabilities, such as broken access controls or session flaws, undetected. 

Blind Spot: Portals protected by login screens like patient dashboards remain vulnerable if scans do not simulate user access. 

Poor Risk Prioritization

Many healthcare IT teams receive overwhelming vulnerability reports without actionable insights. Without context on severity, business impact, or exploitability on patient care, critical vulnerabilities like those affecting patient portals or EHR systems can be missed. 

Consequence: A low-severity-looking vulnerability in a login page could expose patient records or allow attackers to escalate privileges within critical systems if not properly triaged. 

Limited Visibility Across Environments

Modern healthcare operations often span cloud, on-premise, and hybrid infrastructures. Without a unified view, vulnerabilities may go undetected in one environment while being managed in another, leading to security gaps. 

Example: APIs running on third-party platforms or mobile apps may not be included in on-prem scanning processes. 

Manual Remediation Tracking

Vulnerability Remediation is often tracked via spreadsheets or ad hoc communication between IT and security teams, resulting in inconsistent follow-through, missed SLAs, and a lack of accountability. 

Impact: This manual approach delays risk reduction efforts and complicates audit and compliance reporting. 

Lack of Vulnerability Management Policies

Some healthcare institutions lack formal vulnerability management policies or defined patch cycles. This creates inconsistencies in how and when vulnerabilities are identified, prioritized, and addressed. 

Compliance Risk: This is a red flag during HIPAA or HICP audits, as lack of process equates to inadequate protection of PHI. 

Resource Constraints and Skills Gaps

Security teams in smaller clinics or hospitals are often understaffed and overburdened. They may not have the skills or tools to run in-depth vulnerability assessments, analyze scan results, or patch vulnerabilities efficiently. 

Systemic Risk: Without support or automation, known vulnerabilities persist long enough for attackers to exploit them. 

Regulatory Compliance Pressures

Failure to manage vulnerabilities effectively can lead to non-compliance with HIPAA, HICP, NIST, and other healthcare-specific security frameworks. Regulators are increasingly scrutinizing breach causes, and unpatched systems are among the top reasons cited in post-incident investigations. 

Financial Risk: Non-compliance can result in heavy fines, lawsuits, and loss of certification/accreditation. 

9 Must-Have Features for Vulnerability Management in Healthcare 

1. Continuous & Automated Scanning Across All Digital Assets

Healthcare systems face frequent updates, 3rd-party integrations (labs, insurers), and evolving APIs. Manual or one-time scans miss exposures in this dynamic environment. 

With Indusface WAS: 

• Provides continuous vulnerability scanning for web applications, APIs, and other internet-facing assets. 
• The AI-Crawler significantly enhances scan depth and coverage. It intelligently maps applications by learning from previous scans, grouping similar UI elements, avoiding redundant actions, and discovering areas often missed by traditional scanners. This ensures hidden vulnerabilities especially behind dynamic interfaces are not overlooked. 
• Allows scheduling of scans or triggering them automatically when new code is deployed. 

“Healthcare providers can proactively identify weaknesses across their applications before attackers do.” 

2. Authenticated Scans for Deeper Visibility

Many healthcare applications such as Electronic Health Record (EHR) portals, lab result dashboards, and appointment systems restrict access to critical functionalities behind login screens. Traditional vulnerability scanners that cannot navigate these authenticated workflows miss out on high-risk issues lurking within patient, doctor, or admin areas.  

Attackers do not stop at the login screen neither should your scans. Vulnerabilities like IDOR (Insecure Direct Object Reference), session hijacking, and logic bypasses often reside in authenticated areas that handle sensitive patient data. 

Indusface WAS Advantage: 

• Supports authenticated scanning, allowing you to test behind login areas using secure credential injection. 
• Goes beyond automation. Indusface’s security experts complement the scan with manual penetration testing to identify business logic vulnerabilities, such as unauthorized access to another patient’s report, skipping payment for teleconsultations, or editing prescriptions without proper authorization. 
• Vulnerabilities discovered in these deeper layers are prioritized based on potential business and compliance impact, aiding faster remediation. 
• Every vulnerability discovered can be autonomously remediated through SwyftComply , offering immediate protection. 

3. API-Specific Vulnerability Testing

APIs power clinical workflows, mobile health apps, and patient data exchange. Improperly secured APIs are among the top targets for attackers. 

 Indusface WAS Supports: 

• Automated scanning of APIs using Postman specs. 
• Detection of OWASP API Top 10 vulnerabilities like BOLA, mass assignment, and improper authentication. 
• API discovery to detect shadow or undocumented APIs. 

“Healthcare APIs often carry sensitive PHI; Indusface WAS ensures these endpoints are not silently exposing critical data.” 

4. Regulatory & Compliance-Ready Reporting

HIPAA, HICP, and NIST require demonstrable security efforts. Audit-ready documentation is essential during reviews or post-incident forensics. 

For example, NIST CSF ID.RA-1, PR.IP-12, DE.CM-8 demand identification, prioritization, and timely remediation of vulnerabilities as part of your risk management and protection lifecycle. 

Indusface WAS Offers: 

Continuous scanning ensures that your organization always operates from a known-secure state, aligned with regulatory expectations of ongoing risk evaluation. 

Each vulnerability is mapped to industry-standard taxonomies like OWASP Top 10, enabling auditors and security teams to trace every issue to a known threat classification. These reports assist in fulfilling compliance clauses that ask for proof of controls, security evaluations, and continuous monitoring. 

Indusface WAS allows virtual patching through SwyftComply, enabling instant mitigation of open vulnerabilities even before code-level fixes are applied. 

Once vulnerabilities are addressed through remediation or virtual patching, the Zero Vulnerability Report becomes a valuable asset for demonstrating audit-readiness and adherence to security standards. 

5. Seamless Integration with Security & IT Workflows 

Vulnerabilities should flow into your ticketing or patch management system not sit idle in a dashboard. 

Indusface WAS Enables Integration With: 

• Jira: Automatically create tickets for discovered vulnerabilities, assign them to relevant teams, and track remediation status in real time. 
• CI/CD Pipelines: Plug into your DevOps workflows to trigger vulnerability scans as part of your build or deployment cycle. Prevent vulnerable code from moving to production. 
• SIEM Solutions: Feed real-time vulnerability data into your existing SIEM tools for centralized monitoring, correlation with threat intelligence, and faster incident response. 

This ensures clear ownership, improves SLA adherence, and accelerates remediation by embedding security into existing IT and development processes. 

6. Verified Results & Minimal False Positives

Time-strapped IT teams should not waste hours triaging non-exploitable flaws. 

Indusface WAS + PTaaS (Pen Testing as a Service): 

• AI-Enhanced Crawling & Intelligence: Our AI-Crawler does not just improve scan depth it also reduces noise. By learning from previous scans, grouping similar UI patterns, and avoiding redundant actions, the AI helps surface high-confidence issues while suppressing irrelevant or duplicate alerts. This intelligent prioritization is the first step in reducing false positives. 
• Manual Verification by Security Experts: Every critical vulnerability flagged is manually reviewed and validated. Proof-of-exploit is provided wherever applicable to confirm real risk and remove any ambiguity. 

By using AI not only to expand scan coverage but also to filter non-issues, Indusface WAS ensures you spend less time triaging and more time fixing. 

 7. Asset Discovery and Shadow IT Detection

Many healthcare networks unknowingly host exposed test servers, legacy portals, or forgotten APIs. 

 Indusface WAS Offers: 

• Real-time discovery of domains, subdomains, APIs, and cloud-facing endpoints. 
• Automatically adds new assets to scan queue upon detection. 

“One of the biggest breach risks is the app you did not know you had. WAS closes that gap.” 

8. Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

Vulnerability data should be shared on a need-to-know basis especially when PHI or sensitive operations are involved. 

Indusface WAS Supports: 

• Fine-grained access control for roles like IT admin, App owner, Auditor, or CISO. 
• Helps ensure that only authorized users see or act on specific scan results. 

9. Expert Support and Managed Services

 Many healthcare providers lack in-house cybersecurity teams to interpret findings or fine-tune scans. 

 With Indusface WAS + Managed Services: 

• Get 24×7 support from security experts. 
• Access remediation guidance, customized scan profiles, and proactive alerts. 
• Combines automation with human insight ideal for lean security teams. 

Ready to Reduce Risk and Strengthen Compliance? 

Start your free trial of Indusface WAS today and experience end-to-end vulnerability management, powered by AI, backed by experts, and built for healthcare. 

Protect sensitive patient data, stay HIPAA-compliant, and secure every digital asset with zero false positives. 

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