Prof Arunabha Mukhopadhyay led the IIM Lucknow research team. The increasing complexity and sensitivity of data in healthcare organizations have heightened their susceptibility to cyberattacks, especially as the healthcare sector’s reliance on digital data has grown during the COVID-19 pandemic, says IIM Lucknow research team.

Unfortunately, many healthcare organizations all over the world lack cybersecurity measures, making them easy targets for cybercriminals, says IIM Lucknow research team.

Healthcare

Explaining the details of the Healthcare Cyber Risk Assessment Model, Prof. Mukhopadhyay who led the IIM Lucknow research team said their risk assessment and quantification models have helped them group 1788 US healthcare firms on a ‘heat matrix’ that shows the likelihood of a cyberattack and its potential severity.

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‘This gives us a clear picture of how ready the firms are to tackle cyber threats. We also propose a plan to tackle the risks, which is customized according to the position of the firm in the matrix,’ said Prof Mukhopadhyay who led IIM Lucknow research team.

Model

The model, which can be extended to the Indian healthcare sector, has three main features.

Ø First, it assists Chief Information Officers (CIOs) of healthcare institutions in determining the vulnerability of the healthcare institution to cyberattacks

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Ø Secondly, it employs collective risk modelling to assess the potential severity of cyberattacks, which can help hospitals predict the impact

Ø Finally, it offers recommendations on how to mitigate and prevent these cyberattacks

Standards

The recommendations are derived from Rational Choice Theory and the standards outlined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), say IIM Lucknow research team.

They include prioritizing cybersecurity measures such as firewalls, and antivirus solutions. The model also offers practical cyberattack safeguards for healthcare firms in high-risk quadrants of the heat matrix, says IIM Lucknow research team.

Recommendations include data backup, staff anti-phishing training, senior management engagement, advocating cybersecurity laws, and investments in cybersecurity technologies like Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), Extended Detection and Response (XDR), Next Generation Firewall (NGFW), Antivirus (AV), Security Incident and Event Management (SIEM), and Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR).

Regular Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) and threat intelligence integration boost proactive threat response. The option of obtaining insurance coverage to mitigate potential financial impacts is also presented, says IIM Lucknow research team.

Fund

The research funded by the Cyber Security Division of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India, has been published in the Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce (ABDC A category).

The paper has been co-authored by Prof. Arunabha Mukhopadhyay, along with his research scholars Ms. Swati Jain and Ms. Saloni Jain. The paper may be accessed at https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/hoce20.

About IIM Lucknow

Indian Institute of Management Lucknow, established in 1984, is the fourth in the prestigious IIM family of management schools to be established in India after IIM Calcutta, IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore.

In 2005, IIM Lucknow expanded its area of influence in the realm of management education by becoming the first IIM to set up a satellite campus exclusively for Executive Education at NOIDA in Delhi NCR region.

IIM Lucknow is accredited by AACSB and AMBA while its EQUIS Accreditation is ongoing. The institute features in the prestigious FT -100 Top Global Business schools for both the 2-year Flagship PGP program and One-year IPMX Program.

It is also consistently ranked amongst top business schools in the NIRF Rankings. IIM Lucknow was the first IIM to start a 2-yar full time MBA program in Sustainable Management 8 years back. It also has a long-standing full-time MBA program in Agri Business Management.

The objective of FACE admission is to reward and encourage students who have achieved excellence in fine arts and culture.

Of the two seats in each program, one seat will be female-only, and the other will be gender-neutral.

Director of IIT Madras

Speaking at a press conference at the institution, Director of IIT Madras Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, IIT Madras is embarking on a new journey to admit students to her much-coveted undergraduate programs in recognition of their excellence in fine arts and culture.

The candidates are required to apply through the IITM-FACE admission portal (https://jeeadv.iitm.ac.in/face) for consideration for admission under fine arts and culture excellence to IIT Madras, he said.

Portal

The admission process through FACE would not be through the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) portal but on a separate portal (https://jeeadv.iitm.ac.in/face) maintained by IIT Madras where other IITs interested in offering seats through FACE may also participate.

For the academic year 2025-2026, only IIT Madras is offering seats through Fine Arts and Culture Excellence admission.

IIT Madras-FACE

The IITM-FACE portal is to be used exclusively for admission to various academic programs at IIT Madras under FACE admission only.

The candidates are required to apply separately on JoSAA portal for the academic programs at IIT Madras and/or other IITs where the seats are offered through JoSAA.

Ø The candidate should be an Indian National (by birth or naturalization) or OCI/PIO candidate who has chosen to be treated at par with Indian Nationals at the time of JEE (Advanced) 2025 registration.

Ø The candidate should have qualified in JEE (Advanced) 2025 and have obtained a rank in the Common Rank List (CRL) or category-wise rank list in JEE (Advanced) 2025. The position in the rank list may be in any of the categories for which rank lists are prepared, thereby ensuring that the benefits of reservations are not lost and the requisite academic requirement is not diluted.

Ø The candidate should have obtained the minimum required marks in Class XII as per the eligibility criteria for IITs (Clause 26 of the Information Brochure (IB), JEE (Advanced) 2025).

Ø Candidates should have received recognition in at least one of the select categories in recognition of their excellence in fine arts and cultural activities.

Application, Seat Allotment Process

The candidate should be ready with all the necessary documents before starting their application on the following portal – https://jeeadv.iitm.ac.in/face.

A score will be assigned to each candidate based on their fine arts and culture excellence as per the category mentioned in Table.

A separate FACE Rank List (FRL) will be prepared based on the total score obtained by the candidates based on their performance in various fine arts and culture events/awards/scholarships.

The list of eligible awards/scholarships/recognitions mentioned in Appendix – A will only be considered for the preparation of FRL.

The seat allotment will be, done in multiple rounds, based only on the FACE Rank List (FRL). Mere presence in the FRL does not guarantee admission, say sources from IIT Madras.

After a seat is allotted to a candidate in any round, the candidate is given the option to ‘Accept’ or ‘Reject’ the allotted seat and pay the seat acceptances fee, before a specified deadline for the the same.

If the candidate rejects the seat, he or she will be removed from the FACE seat allotment process permanently, say sources from IIT Madras.

If the candidate accepts the seat, they should (1) pay the Seat Acceptance Fee before the deadline specified and (2) choose one of the two options – ‘Freeze’ or ‘Slide’ similar to the case of the JoSAA admission process.

In addition, they should submit proof of withdrawal/exit from JoSAA 2025.