What to consider
Healthcare organizations and their business associates possess some of the most valuable information exchanged on the black market. Cybercriminals are after social insurance numbers, patient records, financial information and intellectual property – and they’re not letting traditional security defenses stop them. In the face of unprecedented security threats, it’s time to take a broader view of managing cybersecurity to help protect patients, research and privacy. Acting on these recommendations can help our health care organizations mitigate cybersecurity risks. It’s important to establish a top-down strategy to manage cyber and privacy risks across all health care organizations. There are many stakeholders involved: boards need to set the mandate, management needs to enable its teams and teams need to do an effective job. The most secure organizations are in a position to succeed due to strong leadership and a board-level mandate around cybersecurity.
Cloud concerns
Cloud computing is changing the way healthcare providers — doctors, clinics and hospitals deliver quality care and services to their patients. Indeed, providers have no choice but to embrace the cloud in some form. This transition is being driven by two forces: the economic imperative to cut costs and to improve the quality of care. The cloud is transforming healthcare by providing on-demand access to IT resources — including applications, storage, compute resources, etc. — without the need to deploy and manage any software or hardware. These cloud services can be accessed from anywhere, while additional capacity can be added or scaled back as needed. However, with more and more cloud and web services, it’s important to understand and manage the risks that come with the cloud. Without visibility and control across SaaS, IaaS, and web, you can’t govern usage to ensure protection of sensitive data. To ensure cloud security in your facility, CloudGRC Inc. empowers our clients to understand what cloud and web services are in use and how they are being used, enforce access controls, protect sensitive data, and restrict risky activities.
Target-rich environment
Healthcare facilities are greater targets for cybersecurity attack than organizations in other sectors for a few key reasons. The personal health and research information these facilities hold are high – value commodities to cybercriminals. Add to this decentralized information systems provide for greater access, putting patient care, research and privacy at risk. Most health care facilities are focused on upgrading their medical technology and employing better doctors, nurses, caregivers and staff to ensure they save lives and provide better overall care. These are noble and important priorities, but they often overlook the need for cybersecurity in addition to these core priorities and values. Healthcare organizations are highly lucrative targets, capable of yielding data on thousands to millions of people in one fell swoop. Accordingly, standards are exceptionally high to protect those organizations from attack. It’s hard to keep up when cybercriminals are relentless in pursuit of these targets.