ShieldHealthAdria: a joint effort to strengthen the cybersecurity and resilience of the healthcare system

ShieldHealthAdria is a European project that brings together 11 hospitals from Croatia and Slovenia, Telekom Slovenije, and Combis in a joint effort to strengthen the cybersecurity and resilience of the healthcare system.

The healthcare sector is facing a rising number of increasingly sophisticated cyber threats, while hospitals rely on digital systems and connected medical devices at almost every step of care. The project moves hospitals from a reactive to a proactive approach, aligned with the NIS2 Directive and national legislation — so that threats are detected faster, care continues without interruption, and patient data remains protected.

At Institute of Oncology Ljubljana, the project includes a cyber-resilience assessment, the deployment of proven security solutions in a real hospital environment, and training for healthcare staff. Across all 11 hospitals, more than 1,000 healthcare professionals will go through the training programme, and the results will be consolidated into a replication model that other healthcare institutions across Europe can adopt.

The project runs for 24 months, with a total value of €8.56 million, of which 50% is co-funded by the European Union.