"Cybersecurity is not just a responsibility of the IT department, but of every individual within an organization."-James Comey

In a major attempt to protect rural hospitals from rising cyber dangers, Microsoft and Google have launched plans to give free or cheap cybersecurity services to vital healthcare facilities across the United States. This declaration seeks to address rural hospitals' growing vulnerability to ransomware and other cyber threats, which have hindered patient care and posed serious hazards to life.

Key Initiatives:

Microsoft's Contributions:

• Free Security Updates: Eligible rural hospitals will receive essential security updates at no cost.
• Security Assessments and Training: Comprehensive security assessments and staff training programs will be offered to enhance cybersecurity preparedness.

Google's Contributions:

• Free Cybersecurity Advice: To addresses the needs of fragile rural hospitals, Google will provide suggestions on cybersecurity.
• Pilot Program: To address this problem, a pilot program will be implemented for Google to conduct their services relevant to rural hospitals.

Context and Impact:

High Risk for Rural Hospitals: Out of about 1,800 rural community hospital organizations in USA, it is believed that many of them are susceptible to such IT risks because accessing protective technology and personnel expertise is often a challenge. These were the only hospital that could be located within a relatively large region and, thus, central to its operations, cyber attacks have severe effects on patient care.

Financial Strain: Several time, due to financial limitations, rural hospitals end up finding themselves at the receiving end as they tend to spend more on running the hospitals rather than on putting in place strong cybersecurity measures.

Legislative and Government Efforts:

White House and Legislative Actions: One notable development is that the White House National Security Council has been with different big technology firms discussing the matter. Current directives from the White House involving cybersecurity are aimed at subjecting US hospitals to minimum cybersecurity regulation.

Rural Hospital Cybersecurity Enhancement Act: Proposed by Senators Josh Hawley and Gary Peters, this act tries to help formulate a strategic planning for the cybersecurity workforce for rural hospitals. It requires CISA to develop guidance and promote the adoption of new educational materials and structures in the private/public realm.

Rising Cyber Threats:

Increased Attacks: The incidences of ransomware attacks on the healthcare sector increased significantly in the US in the year 2023 reaching 128 percent. Some of them are: In February 2021, its attack on a prominent health insurance billing company and In May 2021 on a large number of hospitals through one of its chains that caused serious operational disturbances.

Global Cybersecurity Trends: The nature and complexity of cyber attacks are rising; often, even devices that are not managed become involved in the attack process. Microsoft’s measures are using Artificial Intelligence to facilitate advanced threats identification and applying AI of cybersecurity on all types of connected devices.

The complicity of the technology behemoths and the authorities also puts a stress on the necessity to boost the cybersecurity for the rural hospitals that play essential roles in delivering the health care services to the population without interruption.