Cyber Incident Response for Healthcare Providers in WA: What to Do if Your Clinic Comes Under Attack
Healthcare organisations rely on technology every day to deliver safe, efficient patient care. From appointment scheduling and clinical software through to billing, communication and patient records, even a small IT disruption can quickly affect the way your clinic operates.
Unfortunately, the healthcare sector continues to be one of the most targeted industries for cyber crime. Medical practices, allied health providers and aged care organisations manage large volumes of sensitive information, making them attractive targets for phishing attacks, ransomware and data breaches.
While no organisation can eliminate cyber risk completely, the way you respond can make a significant difference. A clear, documented response plan helps reduce uncertainty, minimise disruption and gives your team confidence about what to do if an incident occurs.
In this guide, we’ll explain what counts as a cyber incident, walk through the key steps your clinic should take if something happens, and share practical ways to strengthen your preparedness before an incident ever occurs.
Why Healthcare Organisations Are Increasingly Targeted
Healthcare providers hold some of the most valuable information a cyber criminal can access. Patient records often contain personal details, medical histories, Medicare information and financial data, making them significantly more valuable than many other types of stolen information.
At the same time, healthcare organisations rely heavily on technology to deliver day-to-day services. Clinical software, appointment systems, billing platforms and communication tools all need to be available for staff to provide quality patient care.
Cyber criminals understand this. They know that even a short period of downtime can create significant operational pressure, particularly if clinicians can’t access patient information or appointments need to be cancelled. That pressure can make organisations more vulnerable when responding to an attack.
This doesn’t mean every healthcare provider will experience a major cyber incident. However, it does highlight why preparation is becoming just as important as prevention. Having a well-understood response plan allows your team to act quickly, make informed decisions and focus on maintaining patient care while technical issues are investigated.
What Counts as a Cyber Incident?
When people hear the words cyber incident, they often think of a large-scale ransomware attack or a major data breach. In reality, many incidents begin with something much smaller.
A staff member might receive a convincing phishing email. An employee could notice unusual login activity on their account, or a laptop containing patient information might be lost or stolen. Sometimes the first sign is simply that files are behaving unexpectedly or systems are running differently to normal.
Some common examples of cyber incidents include:
- Phishing emails requesting passwords or financial information
- Business email compromise
- Ransomware encrypting files or systems
- Lost or stolen devices containing sensitive information
- Suspicious account activity or unauthorised logins
- Patient information being accessed or shared without permission
Not every suspicious event will turn out to be a cyber attack, but it’s always better to investigate early than dismiss something that could become a much larger problem. Encouraging staff to report unusual activity without fear of “getting it wrong” is one of the simplest ways to improve your organisation’s cyber resilience.
The best time to identify weaknesses in your cyber security isn’t during an incident – it’s well before one occurs. Many healthcare organisations don’t discover gaps in their cyber security until something goes wrong. In our guide, Before the Breach: The Questions Every Medical Practice Should Be Able to Answer, we walk through the key questions every clinic should be asking to assess its cyber resilience before an attack occurs.
What to Do if Your Clinic Experiences a Cyber Incident
Responding to a cyber incident can feel overwhelming, particularly when your priority is continuing to provide care for patients.
Having a structured response helps remove much of that uncertainty. Rather than trying to solve everything at once, your team can focus on taking the right steps in the right order while your IT and cyber security specialists investigate the issue.
Step 1: Stay Calm and Assess the Situation
The first few minutes after discovering a potential cyber incident are often the most important. It’s natural to feel concerned, particularly if systems become unavailable or staff suspect patient information may be involved.
However, rushing to fix the problem without understanding what’s happened can sometimes make the situation more difficult to investigate. Taking a calm and measured approach allows your organisation to respond more effectively.
Start by gathering as much information as possible. Consider questions such as:
- What unusual behaviour has been observed?
- Which users or systems appear to be affected?
- When was the issue first noticed?
- Is the activity still occurring?
Recording these details creates a clear timeline that will help your IT provider understand what happened and determine the most appropriate response.
Step 2: Isolate Affected Systems
Once you’ve identified that something may be wrong, the next priority is limiting the spread of the incident.
If you believe a computer or device has been compromised, disconnecting it from the network can often help prevent malicious software or unauthorised activity from spreading to other systems. Depending on the situation, this may involve disconnecting the network cable, turning off Wi-Fi or removing remote access.
It’s generally best to avoid shutting the affected device down unless you’re advised to do so by your IT provider. In some cases, leaving the device powered on can help preserve valuable evidence and support the investigation.
The aim at this stage isn’t to solve the problem yourself. It’s to contain the issue while preserving as much information as possible for your cyber security team.
Step 3: Report the Incident Internally
Cyber incidents should never rely on one person making decisions alone.
As soon as an issue has been identified, notify your practice manager, clinic owner or nominated incident response contact. If your organisation has documented incident response procedures, follow them carefully so everyone understands their role.
Your IT support provider or cyber security partner should also be contacted as early as possible. The sooner they’re involved, the sooner they can begin containing the incident, assessing the impact and reducing potential disruption to your operations.
Clear communication is particularly important during this stage. Staff should understand what systems are available, whether any temporary workarounds are in place and who will provide updates as the situation develops.
Step 4: Preserve Evidence
When something isn’t working properly, it’s understandable to want to delete suspicious emails, remove unusual files or restart systems in the hope that the problem disappears.
However, these actions can sometimes remove valuable information that helps investigators determine how the incident occurred and whether patient information has been affected.
Instead, focus on documenting what you’ve observed. Where appropriate, take screenshots of error messages or suspicious activity, record the time events occurred and keep a record of any actions that have already been taken.
The more information your IT provider has available, the easier it becomes to understand what happened, contain the incident and plan the safest path to recovery.
Step 5: Engage Your IT and Cyber Security Team
Once the incident has been reported and any affected systems have been isolated, your IT and cyber security team can begin investigating what has happened.
Their role is to understand the nature of the incident, determine how far it has spread and safely contain the threat before recovery begins. Depending on the type of incident, this may involve analysing suspicious activity, identifying compromised accounts, restoring systems from backups or confirming whether any patient information has been accessed.
Throughout this process, clear communication is essential. Your team should understand which systems remain available, what temporary workarounds are in place and when normal operations are likely to resume. Keeping staff informed helps reduce uncertainty and allows them to continue supporting patients wherever possible.
It’s also important to remember that recovery should never be rushed. Restoring systems before the incident has been fully contained can increase the risk of the same issue occurring again.
Step 6: Understand Your Reporting Obligations
Some cyber incidents may trigger legal or regulatory obligations, particularly where sensitive patient information has been accessed, disclosed or lost.
The appropriate response will depend on the type of incident and the information involved, so it’s important not to make assumptions or rush into notifying patients or external organisations without understanding your obligations.
Your IT provider can help determine the technical scope of the incident, while legal or privacy specialists can provide guidance on any reporting or notification requirements that may apply. Working together ensures decisions are based on accurate information rather than speculation.
Having an incident response plan that identifies who is responsible for these decisions can remove a great deal of uncertainty during what is often a stressful situation.
Step 7: Recover and Learn
Recovering from a cyber incident doesn’t end when systems come back online.
Once the immediate issue has been resolved, it’s worth taking the time to review what happened and identify opportunities to improve your preparedness for the future. Every incident provides valuable lessons, whether it’s a phishing email that was identified early or a more significant event that disrupted day-to-day operations.
Bringing together your leadership team, staff and IT provider to review the incident can help answer questions such as:
- How was the incident detected?
- Did everyone understand their role?
- Were communication processes clear?
- Did any systems or procedures create unnecessary delays?
- What changes could reduce the likelihood or impact of a similar incident?
A post-incident review doesn’t need to be complicated, but it should result in practical improvements that strengthen your organisation over time.
How to Prepare Before an Incident Happens
The organisations that recover most successfully from cyber incidents are rarely the ones with the biggest IT budgets. More often, they’re the organisations that have invested time in preparing before something goes wrong.
Being prepared ensures your team has the tools, knowledge and processes needed to respond confidently if an incident does occur.
There are several practical steps healthcare providers can take to improve their cyber resilience.
- Build Staff Awareness
Technology plays an important role in protecting your organisation, but people remain one of your strongest defences.
Many cyber incidents begin with a phishing email or a fraudulent link that appears legitimate. Providing regular cyber security awareness training helps staff recognise common threats and gives them confidence to report anything that seems unusual.
Creating a culture where people feel comfortable asking questions or reporting suspicious activity can often prevent a small issue from becoming a much larger incident. - Enable Multi-Factor Authentication
Passwords alone are no longer enough to protect sensitive systems.
Multi-factor authentication adds another layer of security by requiring users to verify their identity using a second method, such as an authenticator app or verification code.
Even if a password is stolen, multi-factor authentication can significantly reduce the likelihood of an attacker gaining access to patient information or business systems. - Maintain Secure, Tested Backups
Reliable backups remain one of the most effective ways to recover from ransomware and other cyber incidents.
However, backups should do more than simply run every night. They should be monitored, protected from unauthorised changes and tested regularly to confirm they can be restored successfully if they’re ever needed.
Knowing your backups work provides confidence that your organisation can recover without unnecessary delays or data loss. - Align with the Essential Eight
The Australian Signals Directorate’s Essential Eight provides practical strategies that help organisations reduce their exposure to common cyber threats.
While every healthcare provider has different systems and operational requirements, aligning with the Essential Eight provides a strong foundation for improving cyber resilience and reducing overall risk.
For many organisations, it’s also a useful framework for identifying where improvements should be prioritised over time. - Develop an Incident Response Plan
When an incident occurs, uncertainty can often become just as disruptive as the technical issue itself.
Having a documented incident response plan gives your team a clear understanding of who should be contacted, how incidents should be escalated and what the immediate priorities are.
Even a straightforward plan can significantly reduce confusion during a stressful situation and help your organisation respond more quickly. - Review Your Cyber Security Regularly
Cyber threats continue to evolve, and your organisation will continue to change as new staff, systems and technologies are introduced.
Regular cyber security reviews help confirm that existing protections remain effective, identify emerging risks and ensure your security measures continue supporting the way your clinic operates.
Rather than treating cyber security as a one-off project, regular reviews allow your organisation to continually improve its resilience over time.
Is Your Clinic Prepared?
No healthcare organisation wants to experience a cyber incident, but preparation can make a significant difference to the outcome. Knowing your risks, documenting your response plan and working with a trusted IT partner all contribute to a smoother recovery.
At Impact ICT, we work with healthcare providers across Perth, Mandurah and the Peel region to strengthen cyber security, improve backup and recovery processes, and help organisations build practical incident response plans that fit the way they operate.
Whether you’re reviewing your current cyber security measures or looking to develop a more structured response plan, our team can help you understand where your biggest risks lie and how to improve your preparedness.
If you’re not sure how prepared your clinic is for a cyber incident, get in touch with Impact ICT to arrange a cyber security review and discuss your incident response readiness.
