Cyber Security in Healthcare: 5 Challenges and Strategies for Ensuring Data Protection

Last year, the healthcare sector emerged as the primary target of cybersecurity breaches, experiencing the highest frequency of incidents. In the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare, the significance of cyber security cannot be overstated. The industry faces escalating security threats as technology becomes increasingly intertwined with patient care and sensitive data. This run down aims to shed light on the critical importance of cyber security in healthcare and provides insights into five major challenges organizations face and five strategies to implement to safeguard valuable data.

Cyber Security Breaches Impacting the Healthcare Industry

Cyber threats to organizations and patient safety are significant concerns. IT in healthcare plays a vital role in delivering life-saving functions, relying on interconnected systems and wireless technologies, making them susceptible to cyberattacks. Even highly secured systems, ranging from individual practitioners to large healthcare systems, have experienced breaches in healthcare records, IT systems, and medical devices. To understand the severity of cyberattacks in the healthcare industry, let’s examine some of the most recent statistics:

• Healthcare organizations witnessed a surge in cyberattacks, experiencing 1,426 attacks per week in 2022, as Check Point Research (CPR) reported, representing a 60% rise from the previous year.

• Over the past two years, the expense associated with data breaches in healthcare organizations has surged by 42%, resulting in significant financial burdens for affected entities.

• Healthcare maintains the highest data breach cost across industries, averaging $10 million per incident, per the Cost of a Data Breach Report.

The Significance of Modernizing IT in Healthcare

With the mentioned challenges, upgrading technology systems and infrastructure, enhancing patient care, streamlining operations, improving data security, enabling interoperability, and supporting innovative healthcare delivery models. By embracing modern IT solutions, organizations can stay ahead in an ever-evolving digital landscape, adapt to emerging technologies, and ultimately provide better healthcare services to patients. Below are only some of the benefits of modernizing:

1. Reduce or avoid human errors

2. Integrate both patient-driven and patient-owned data and increase data visibility and collaboration

3. Enhance and advance personalized healthcare

4. Promoting the development of streamlined and efficient healthcare systems

5 Key Challenges Facing the Healthcare Sector

Cyber security in healthcare is crucial for protecting systems such as EHRs, health tracking devices, and medical equipment. Its primary focus is to prevent unauthorized access and disclosure of patient data, ensuring its availability, confidentiality, and integrity. Hospitals are prime targets for cyberattacks, as seen in the 2018 ransomware incident at Hancock Regional Hospital. Common challenges in cyber security in healthcare include patient privacy protection, vulnerabilities in legacy systems, IT challenges, and security breaches.

By addressing these issues, healthcare organizations can safeguard patient information and mitigate risks to ensure safe and effective healthcare delivery.

1. The weaknesses are inherent in outdated systems used in healthcare.

Numerous healthcare systems continue to rely on outdated legacy systems due to the following factors:

• Training staff on new systems is essential to minimize errors but can be time-consuming and costly.

• The tedious compliance processes for certifying new equipment and technology may discourage organizations from repeating them in the future.

• Healthcare organizations often react to system failures or cyberattacks, but a proactive approach to replacing legacy systems can prevent future problems and mitigate associated risks.

• Transitioning to a new system incurs costs for purchasing technology, hiring technicians, and the potential downtime that hampers revenue generation for healthcare facilities.

By replacing outdated legacy systems with modern digital tools, healthcare organizations can optimize health outcomes and enhance the experiences of healthcare providers, administrators, IT staff, and patients.

5. Security breaches within the healthcare industry.

Phishing, malware, ransomware, patient data theft, insider threats, and compromised Internet of Things (IoT) devices are among the key concerns faced by cybersecurity professionals in the healthcare sector.

6. Safeguarding the privacy of patients’ personal information.

With the increasing integration of technology in the healthcare industry, the likelihood of cyber theft also rises. Two types of thefts:

• Insider theft in healthcare often involves patient data theft for financial gain or malicious purposes. Unintentional actions, like human error or falling for phishing emails, contribute to insider misuse cases.

• Outside theft refers to the intrusion of patient and medical systems by hackers outside healthcare organizations, aiming to obtain and gather data for illicit financial gain.

7. IT in healthcare presents various challenges.

The increased use of IT in healthcare has revolutionized the industry, providing numerous benefits such as improved doctor-patient communication, task automation, and enhanced physician collaboration. IT and digitization have also empowered patients to access health information through EHRs and patient portals, enabling them to make informed decisions about their care. Additional advantages include reducing inefficiencies, improving access and lowering costs, enhancing care quality, and enabling personalized medicine.

However, connected technologies are susceptible to cyberattacks and data breaches. While external breaches dominate security risks, internal misuse is more prevalent in healthcare. Strengthening cyber security is a top priority for IT leaders to protect patient privacy and prevent cyber theft. Managing interoperability, the effective exchange of information across digital platforms, is another significant challenge. Healthcare leaders are addressing these challenges by aligning processes with digitization trends to improve overall performance.

5 Key Strategies to Safeguard Healthcare Systems

8. Practice strong password management and hygiene

Develop robust and regularly updated passwords comprising numbers, symbols, and uppercase and lowercase letters, typically spanning 12-14 characters. Emphasize the importance of maintaining good password hygiene by enforcing periodic password changes and providing clear guidance to employees on distinguishing strong passwords from weak ones.

9. Foster a Strong Security Culture and Multi-Factor Authentication

Building a security culture becomes seamless when integrated into the fabric of your organization. Implement continuous cyber security training and educational programs for all team members, underscoring the collective responsibility to safeguard patient data.

On the other hand, multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a straightforward security control that can act as a strong deterrent against attacks. Implementing MFA on endpoints and mobile devices has the potential to prevent up to 90% of cyberattacks. Healthcare entities must prioritize MFA as a basic security measure.

10. Keep a vigilant eye out for network and software vulnerabilities.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)’ Office of Information Security and the Health Sector Cyber Security Coordination Center (HC3) emphasize the importance of employees consistently monitoring the organization’s network for unusual activities. Additionally, healthcare cybersecurity teams can utilize automated threat detection tools, such as those offered by the Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), to scan for vulnerabilities in software and network systems.

11. Continuously evaluate deficiencies in security measures.

Security leaders can pinpoint shortcomings in their cybersecurity programs by benchmarking against their peers. Regularly reviewing and reassessing security controls enables the identification of potential vulnerabilities before they impact the organization.

12. Monitor and measure essential cyber security metrics.

After determining the gaps in your security controls, establishing specific cyber security metrics that are relevant and applicable to their organizations should be your next step. These metrics can include tracking the effectiveness of employee training programs, evaluating IoT device security, and assessing other cybersecurity initiatives’ progress.

13. Create comprehensive plans for incident response and disaster recovery.

Healthcare cyber security leaders should establish a crisis response team responsible for handling cyber security during security incidents. This team should comprise individuals from the technology, communications, legal, and business continuity departments. Conducting a tabletop exercise simulating a potential incident can assist healthcare organizations in identifying any deficiencies in their emergency response plan.

Why ECF Data Stands Out as the Top Choice for Cyber Security Solutions

Healthcare providers must prioritize addressing cyber security vulnerabilities, including insider threats, unpatched systems, malicious hackers, and unsecured IoT devices, as the impact of cyberattacks on healthcare organizations is extensive. In today’s interconnected world, the healthcare sector must proactively find solutions to prevent data breaches.

With over 13 years of expertise, ECF Data has collaborated with 25 top biopharma companies globally, acquiring extensive proficiency in navigating intricate HIPAA and FDA compliance regulations.

Our experts can help you with the following:

• Always ensure the security of patient data and in any location

• Addressing compliance requirements

• Customize cybersecurity measures according to specific requirements

• Collaborate with your team to implement these solutions effectively

Take advantage of our complimentary cybersecurity consultation with our team of experts to receive personalized recommendations tailored to your specific cybersecurity needs.

BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL