Digital health organisations, from NHS suppliers to healthtech start-ups, handle some of the most sensitive data in the UK. Protecting that information is a matter of patient safety and public trust.
Drawing on the UK National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC) 10 Steps to Cyber Security, Periculo has developed a healthcare-focused version:
These steps help you build resilience, meet NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) standards, and stay ahead of modern cyber threats.
Effective cyber resilience starts with understanding your risks. Identify which threats could impact your organisation, whether ransomware, insider error, or supplier breach and assess how likely and damaging they’d be. Integrate cyber risk into your board-level risk register and review it regularly.
Focus first on the risks that matter most to patient safety and service continuity.
People are your strongest line of defence – when empowered. Provide regular, role-specific training so everyone from clinicians to developers knows how to spot phishing, handle data safely, and report incidents. Move beyond tick-box exercises to genuine engagement: make training interactive, relatable, and ongoing.
An alert, confident workforce prevents far more incidents than any single technology.
You can’t defend what you can’t see. Keep an up-to-date inventory of all devices, software, cloud services, and data assets. Identify your “crown jewels,” the systems that are most critical or sensitive and assign owners for each.
Regularly update this list and retire obsolete equipment. Visibility gives you control; control gives you security.
A secure architecture limits the impact of any breach. Segment networks so clinical systems, admin networks, and medical devices are separated. Apply secure-by-default configurations, disable unused services, enforce encryption, and remove default passwords.
Adopt a defence-in-depth model: multiple layers of protection that ensure no single failure leads to catastrophe.
Many cyberattacks exploit known flaws that already have fixes. Establish a routine patch management schedule and use automated updates wherever possible. Scan systems for vulnerabilities and prioritise the most severe.
If legacy devices can’t be updated, isolate them and apply compensating controls. The WannaCry outbreak proved that unpatched systems can halt healthcare overnight. Don’t let history repeat itself.
Every user, device, and service should have only the access it needs, no more. Implement least privilege principles, enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA), and promptly remove accounts when staff leave or change roles.
There's a quick win here: enabling MFA, closing dormant accounts, and separating admin credentials from day-to-day logins all drastically reduce breach potential.
Health data is your most valuable and vulnerable asset. Encrypt data at rest and in transit, maintain secure offline backups, and ensure confidential data is properly destroyed when no longer required.
Regularly test backups and restrict data access to authorised staff only. With strong encryption and disciplined lifecycle management, even a stolen device won’t lead to a data breach.
Continuous visibility is key to containing threats. Centralise your system logs and monitor for unusual activity such as failed logins, unexpected data exports, or devices contacting unknown servers.
Whether through a Security Operations Centre (SOC) or automated alerting tools, proactive monitoring enables rapid detection and response, often stopping attacks before they spread.
No defence is perfect. When incidents occur, a rehearsed plan makes all the difference. Define clear roles, escalation paths, and communication procedures. Conduct tabletop exercises to test response and recovery, and integrate the plan with your business continuity processes.
After each event, review what happened and update your controls and turn every incident into an improvement opportunity.
Your cybersecurity is only as strong as your suppliers’. Vet all vendors who access your systems or data. Include security clauses in contracts, require DSPT or Cyber Essentials certification, and ensure MFA for any remote supplier access.
Periculo advises clients to share best practices with partners and monitor ongoing compliance. Collaboration strengthens the entire health ecosystem and reduces collective risk.
Following these 10 Steps creates a practical roadmap for cybersecurity maturity in digital health. Each step from risk management through to supply-chain assurance builds upon the last, helping you protect patient data, ensure continuity, and meet NHS DSPT standards.
At Periculo, we help organisations turn these principles into action through independent DSPT audits, penetration testing, and ongoing advisory. Security isn’t a one-time project—it’s a continuous journey of improvement. With the right foundations, your organisation can innovate confidently while keeping every byte of patient data safe.