Fuzzy Cognitive Scenario Mapping for Causes of Cybersecurity in Telehealth Services

Abstract

Hospital organizations have adopted telehealth systems to expand their services to a portion of the Brazilian population with limited access to healthcare, mainly due to the geographical distance between their communities and hospitals. The importance and usage of those services have recently increased due to the COVID-19 state-level mobility interventions. These services work with sensitive and confidential data that contain medical records, medication prescriptions, and results of diagnostic processes. Understanding how cybersecurity impacts the development of telehealth strategies is crucial for creating secure systems for daily operations. In the application reported in this article, the Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCMs) translated the complexity of cybersecurity in telehealth services into intelligible and objective results in an expert-based cognitive map. The tool also allowed the construction of scenarios simulating the possible implications caused by common factors that affect telehealth systems. FCMs provide a better understanding of cybersecurity strategies using expert knowledge and scenario analysis, enabling the maturation of cybersecurity in telehealth services.