The medical industry has the often-thankless task of finding solutions to hundreds of thousands of diseases. And it's quite effective at doing its job. Right now, medical researchers are developing and testing vaccines for COVID-19 at lightning speeds. Despite their effectiveness at preventing and treating human ills, however, they're having difficulty dealing with viruses of the digital kind.
The Healthcare Industry's Cybersecurity Problem
An overwhelming majority of healthcare organizations have experienced at least one data breach, according to Black Book Market Research. Their study, featured in Newswire, also found that more than 300 million healthcare records have been stolen since 2015. This means that about one in 10 patients in the country have had their crucial information compromised.
According to a recent report by the Wall Street Journal, data breaches cost healthcare providers more than $400. ; This includes a combination of legal fees, monitoring fines, and more. Some hospital-based practices have stopped accepting patients altogether because of lost data and other consequences of ransomware attacks.
Ransomware is a form of malicious software that some people may mistakenly open. It locks the computer down and keeps away every file from the user until they pay a certain amount to the hacker. Some ask for a few hundred dollars, while others demand thousands. It depends on how much data was compromised and how important these are.
And that's only the tip of the iceberg. Attackers continue to use different methods like phishing and cloud hacking to compromise important customer data and sell it to the highest bidder.
Ways to Quell Cybersecurity Attacks
With breaches common in the industry, it's no longer a question of if, but when your practice may get attacked. So, what can you do to improve your cybersecurity further and prevent such attacks from happening?
Educate Yourself and Your Employees -- IBM's 2014 Cyber Security Intelligence Index found that over 95% of successful cyber-attacks were caused by human error. You heard that right, the biggest cybersecurity risk to your company could be you or your employees. One might open a malicious link in a fake HR email and proceed to open its files, thinking that it's legitimate - and poof - crucial patient records are now in the attackers' hands.
A free way to educate yourself and your employees about cybersecurity is to be familiar with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's ; Stop. Think. Connect. campaign. It features easy-to-read resources about proper computer usage and internet browsing practices at work and at home. If you want an extensive lesson, hire a cybersecurity professional and schedule a seminar. You may have to sacrifice a few hours of productivity. But lowering the risk of getting cyber-attacked is always worth it.
Enforce Strict Password Policies -- Using a password is still one of the most efficient ways to restrict access to your network. However, it depends on the strength of the passwords. They shouldn't be obvious ones like your birth or wedding anniversary date. Hackers will definitely discover them. And they most definitely shouldn't have the words "password" in them. The basics of a good password policy include:
Passwords should be longer than eight characters to make it harder for attackers to crack.
Use a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols
Change your passwords every two to three months
Don't keep copies of your passwords in plain sight (e.g., notebooks or post-its)
Make use of a password manager
If you want to improve your password system, enable two-factor authentication on all your software, especially for your medical practice management app. It involves using two authentication methods before the user can log in. The first will be the password, and the second often involves a one-time pin sent to you via email or mobile phone. This creates another layer of protection against hackers. Since only you have access to your text messages, you're the only one who can log into your account as well.
Enforce and Update Levels of Access -- Even if you only run a small medical practice, some of your employees should not have the same access as you do when it comes to patient records and other high-level information. Coordinate with a cybersecurity expert to create different entry levels in your network. Doing so limits each employee's access to only the files they need to see to carry out their work.
You should have an auditing and monitoring system installed, too. This way, your system will alert you of any unauthorized access done by employees or people outside your practice. Review and update these permissions regularly to ensure that everyone has the correct level of access.
Cybersecurity is a very important concern that every medical practice needs to deal with. Not only does it keep you compliant with regulations like the HIPAA, but it also improves your patients' trust in your services. Use these effective methods to improve your practice's protection against cyberattacks so you can concentrate further on improving your patients' health instead of lost or stolen records.
