Strengthening Cyber Resilience in Healthcare: HSE CISO addresses DkIT Conference
Neal Mullen, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at the HSE, delivered a keynote yesterday at the Cybersecurity for Healthcare Conference hosted by Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT).
In his presentation, “Building Resilient Health Systems – Republic of Ireland,” Neal highlighted how the HSE is driving a robust, forward-looking cybersecurity agenda to protect Ireland’s healthcare services in an increasingly complex digital landscape.
He outlined key pillars of the HSE’s cybersecurity strategy, including:
- Resilience as a mindset: moving beyond reactive approaches to proactively anticipating, preparing for, and adapting to threats.
- Advancing the National Cyber Security Plan: underpinned by modern security frameworks that strengthen our national healthcare infrastructure.
- The establishment of a fully operational 24/7 Cyber Response Team: ensuring rapid detection and response to incidents across the health service.
- Investing in people: with a strong focus on continuous training and upskilling across the organisation to build a security-first culture.
The conference offered a valuable forum for healthcare and industry professionals to come together, share insights, and explore innovative approaches to common cybersecurity challenges. Neal emphasised that collaboration and shared learning are essential to building secure, resilient health systems that can withstand and adapt to evolving threats.
This event also underscored the importance of partnerships like the one between the HSE’s Technology and Transformation division and DkIT, formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Through this collaboration, both organisations are committed to advancing research, innovation, and workforce development in healthcare technology — critical pillars in strengthening our collective cybersecurity posture.
You can read more about the MOU between HSE T&T and DkIT here.
