Mapping Machine Learning-Driven Cybersecurity Solutions in Health Care: Scoping Literature Review
Abstract
Background: Health care systems face escalating cyberattacks, including the UK Synnovis ransomware attack, which halted pathology services for 14 weeks; the Ascension Health breach affecting 5.6 million patients; and the Change Healthcare breach costing US $2.5 billion. Conventional cybersecurity measures in health care remain reactive and inadequate against evolving threats. Machine learning (ML) offers adaptive, predictive, real-time cyber defense; yet, there is limited clarity on how ML tools are applied across cybersecurity domains, their real-world effectiveness, and where gaps remain.
Objective: This study aims to map ML applications in health care cybersecurity against the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework version 2.0, summarize ML performance, and identify research gaps and implementation considerations.
Methods: A systematic search of Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, and Scopus was conducted on July 30, 2025, for studies between 2019 and 2025. Eligible studies applied ML-based approaches to organizational-level cybersecurity in health care settings, with outcomes related to data privacy or cybersecurity strengthening. Studies on smart devices, blockchain, or those lacking empirical data were excluded. Title and abstract and full-text screening were conducted independently by 2 (KR and SZ) reviewers following the Arksey and O'Malley framework and PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for…
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Evidence Hub reads this as a review, done in computer models (in silico), not in people. Its evidence level is 5 of 5 (Very low · case / narrative / animal / in vitro / in silico). Case reports, narrative reviews, and animal, cell or computer-model studies give the weakest evidence for human health. Reported size: 29 participants or records.
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