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Despite the clear and present danger, the healthcare industry continues to struggle with implementing effective cybersecurity practices.
Healthcare is a critical part of everyday life, so why have organizations been slow to adopt better solutions?
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The answer may seem simple, but it is quite complex.
Healthcare is a highly regulated industry with slim operating margins.
There are five imperatives that organizations can take to reduce the risk of a cyberattack.
Whilecloud serviceproviders may provide security measures for keeping data secure, integrating further controls is essential.
Physical security at the data center location is equally important as HCA Healthcare discovered.
Organizations must prioritize the formulation of comprehensive data retention strategies and contingency plans.
It is vital to conduct comprehensive security reviews of the architecture of their cloud-deployed and publicly exposed applications.
Eliminating unpatched unit risk
A healthcare system consists of multiple devices from laptops to MRIs to patient monitors.
This equates to thousands, if not millions, of points of entries an attacker could target.
Updating legacy systems and pinpointing un-patched aging vulnerabilities must be one of the first steps.
It also proactively stops any threats that have breached the initial edge of defenses.
These threats can also come in the form of partnerships with third-party vendors.
Russian cyberattackers targeted this platform in 2023 where millions of records were exposed.
CISOs must ensure each vendor has passed HIPAA audits and earned the HITRUST certification before implementing any services.
Ensuring regulatory compliance
There are several regulations and compliance points that a healthcare organization must follow regarding patient data.
With each country having different regulations, it is a challenge to keep abreast of it all.
For instance, Kaiser Permanente announced a data breach in April 2024 that impacted over 13 million Americans.
Consulting partners can help CISOs better monitor and audit IT systems can help to uncover these issues.
Adopting new technologies
GenAI is the newest technology that every organization is scrambling to incorporate into their technology stack.
In healthcare,AIusage is both a risk and a benefit.
On the plus side, it enhances the cybersecurity framework, proactively monitoring and flagging issues.
However, it must be said that AI also brings risk to an organization.
Hackers use AI to refine phishing scams, generate more sophisticated attacks and create deep fake threats.
CISOs must create a culture of security amongst all employees.
This organization required that various radiation clinics use their proprietary system.
The dataanalyticsdetermined how to assign severity threat levels and vulnerability mitigation paths.
The implementation of the security framework consisting of the five key elements successfully secured this infrastructure.
Safety in the connected world
Technology has transformed healthcare.
Gone are the days of paper records and notes.
Everything is online, automated and, unfortunately, vulnerable to security risks.
By taking these key steps, healthcare organizations can minimize attack surfaces.
We’ve featured the best encryption software.
The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc.
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