Major Hospital Board Pressed into Emergency Cyber Strategy Session Following Supply-Chain Phishing Attack

The Challenge

St. Vincent Regional Health Centre, one of Eastern Canada’s largest healthcare providers, faced an unexpected crisis when a sophisticated phishing attack infiltrated its supply chain. The incident began with what appeared to be a legitimate invoice from a long-standing medical equipment vendor. The email matched branding and purchase order details so precisely that an experienced finance clerk processed it without suspicion.

Embedded within the attached invoice was malicious code that exploited trust in the vendor relationship. The malware compromised the procurement portal, captured staff credentials, and provided remote access to attackers who exfiltrated purchasing and contact data. Payments were halted, supply deliveries delayed, and clinical operations disrupted.

As the situation escalated, the hospital’s board convened an emergency cyber strategy meeting. It quickly became clear that there was no defined executive response framework for cyber incidents. Cybersecurity was treated as an IT responsibility rather than an enterprise risk. Communication lines between leadership, compliance, and technology teams were unclear, and the organization struggled to manage reputational fallout.

The attack highlighted a growing reality across Canada’s healthcare sector: cyber risk is not purely technical. It is a governance issue that demands informed leadership and coordinated decision-making.

Our Solution

We were engaged to establish a formal Executive Cyber Governance and Incident Leadership Program designed to improve strategic readiness and accountability.

Our process began with a cyber risk maturity assessment that evaluated board awareness, reporting structures, and escalation procedures. Based on the findings, we implemented a tailored framework to integrate cybersecurity oversight into corporate governance.

Key measures included:
– Creation of a Cyber Risk and Incident Response Council chaired by the Chief Operating Officer.
– Development of an Executive Cyber Strategy Playbook defining escalation paths, decision authority, and communication protocols.
– Implementation of risk dashboards that translated technical vulnerabilities into business impact metrics for board review.
– Mandatory phishing and social engineering training for executives and vendor-facing teams.
– Inclusion of cyber resilience within the organization’s Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) framework and annual board agenda.

The Value

The initiative elevated cybersecurity from an operational task to a strategic priority.

Incident response time for phishing events improved by 60 percent in post-engagement testing.

The hospital achieved full alignment between board oversight and operational response functions.

Vendor relations improved through the introduction of coordinated incident management protocols.

Board members demonstrated increased confidence in understanding and directing cyber risk mitigation efforts.

The outcome was a more resilient organization capable of making timely, informed decisions in the face of complex digital threats.

Implementation Roadmap

Assessment, Weeks 1–3: Evaluate governance structure, incident history, and escalation paths.
Framework Design, Weeks 4–6: Develop the Cyber Strategy Playbook and define council membership.
Deployment, Weeks 7–10: Form the Cyber Risk and Incident Response Council and initiate reporting dashboards.
Training, Weeks 11–14: Conduct executive simulations, phishing awareness, and decision-making workshops.
Continuous Oversight: Incorporate cyber risk into quarterly board reporting and annual ERM reviews.

Infosheet