Evaluating cybersecurity attitudes and behaviors in Portuguese healthcare institutions

The growing digitization of healthcare institutions and its increasing dependence on Internet infrastructure has boosted the concerns related to data privacy and confidentiality. These institutions have been challenged with specific issues, namely the sensitivity of data, the specificity of networked equipment, the heterogeneity of healthcare professionals (nurses, doctors, administrative staff and other) and the IT skills they have. In this paper we present the results obtained with a study made with healthcare professionals on evaluating their awareness level with the information security, namely by assessing their attitudes and behaviours in cybersecurity. The methodology consisted in translating, adjusting and applying two previously validated and already published Likert-type response scales, in a healthcare institution in Portugal, namely “Centro Hospitalar Barreiro Montijo” (CHBM). The scales used were cybersecurity risky behaviour (RScB) and cybersecurity and cybercrime in business attitudes (ATC-IB). Although there were no significant statistical differences between the sociodemographic factors and the scores obtained on both scales, the results showed a relationship between acquired behaviours and the attitudes of involvement with work and organizational commitment, establishing a bridge for the quantification in awareness.