The healthcare industry is changing rapidly in recent years. The latest technology is helping the healthcare industry to evolve. For example, scientists have finally mapped out the whole human DNA structure. Thus, people can test their genetics at home. Before the data revolution, all the healthcare documents were kept in thick folders. But, now patients can directly access their test results and medical reports by using online portals. This availability of data is perfect for hackers. Data breaches and cyber threats have become a major concern for most of the business. It is even affecting the healthcare industry.

What is data security?

It is the process of protecting or securing your important data from attackers. Data security also includes preventing cyber threats against the data stored in your database, cloud, website, and computer.

CIA Triad of data security

CIA Triad is a security model which is used by most of the companies. It stands for the availability, integrity, and confidentiality of your data. These are the three most important things of data security which will help you in keeping your data secure.

Confidentiality: It means that unauthorized people can’t access your data.
Integrity: This means that your data is accurate and reliable.
Availability: This means that the data is available at all times.

Importance of data security in the healthcare sector

Just like any other industry, the healthcare sector is also getting connected with the internet. But, most of the healthcare organizations aren’t focusing on cybersecurity. All the healthcare records are now stored in Electronic health records or EHRs. Due to this, more and more hackers are attacking healthcare organizations. More than 15 million patient records were stolen in 2018. Most of the healthcare organizations are using outdated software and hardware. Thus, it becomes easy for hackers to hack into these organizations. We are going to talk about the 5 biggest data security challenges that the healthcare industry is facing right now.

Ransomware:

Almost everyone has heard about ransomware attacks. In this attack, the hackers lock your computer until you pay the ransom. Most of the ransomware attacks are happening in healthcare organizations. Even a simple email can lock all the data on your server. Thus, it is very important to control user devices. Make sure that they are clicking on authentic links only. You should use firewalls, email security, and web security gateways to protect your organization from ransomware attacks. If you are system is locked by a ransomware malware, then you should try to rebuild your files before buying ransom. There are many ransomware encryption decoders available in the market. You can hire professional security professionals that will help you in mitigating the attack.

Outdated technology:

It is difficult to run a healthcare organization. You need a lot of money buying the latest MRI Technology. Also, you need to pay a good amount of money to ever-increasing staff. Thus, most of the healthcare organizations have a small IT budget. Due to this most of the healthcare organizations are using open source or outdated software. These tools don’t get any security updates from their vendors. It is difficult to purchase a new server when you are on a tight budget. But, it is still better than dealing with a data breach.

IoT devices:

Most of healthcare organizations are using IoT devices for monitoring their patient’s health. But, the number of IoT-based attacks is increasing pretty fast. According to reports, more than 30% of data security incidents in 2019 happened due to IoT attacks. IoT attacks are expected to rise by more than 500% in the next two years. More and more IoT devices are getting connected with the healthcare organizations’ network. Thus, they are opening more loopholes in the network.

Mobile devices:

Most of the wellness and health programs are now available on mobile devices. You can easily monitor your health by using your mobile device. These devices are mostly unsecured when compared to a laptop or computer. Doctors, hospital staff, patients and even visitors are using mobile devices or tablets for accessing the organization network. You can use NAC or Network access control solutions for keeping your health data secured. NAC will automatically identify each type of device and user. After that, it will scan your device for out-of-date malware protection and threats. Hence, only fully secured devices will get connected to your organization network.

People:

Most of your employees don’t know about good security practices. Thus, they are a grave security threat for your organization. Your employees can click on a malicious link while using your organization device. According to multiple surveys, most of the employees don’t know about security policies. All your data security strategies will fail until you give proper training to your employees. Also, make sure that you are using technologies that can check the devices which are trying to connect with your network. Healthcare security is only going to become more important in the coming years. Thus, it is important to teach your employees about the correct security practices.

Conclusion

Healthcare organizations have become a constant target for hackers. The value of healthcare data is only growing with time. This means more and more hackers are going to attack healthcare organizations. Thus, it is important to have security leaders that can protect your organization from cyber-attacks. You should work with both your healthcare provider and the IT department while creating the data security strategy. Healthcare organizations must create an effective data security strategy. This will help you in protecting your systems that are important for your patient health and day-to-day operations. You can also contact experts working at Bleuwire. They will help you in creating the perfect data security strategy for your organization.

Contact us today to learn about Bleuwire™ services and solutions in how we can help your business.