Cybersecurity in Healthcare

What is Your Battle Plan to Fight Cybercrime?

Cybercrime, while impacting other industries over the past 20 years, has now attacked healthcare in a big way. Daily, we read about security breaches in small-, medium-, and large-scale healthcare organizations that often affect hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people and their private information. These violations occur for many reasons, including unidentified holes in technology infrastructure, lack of knowledge and financial resources to build and maintain a robust IT security program, non-existent policies and procedures governing information security, and untrained and unprepared users. One thing is certain: security compromises are a serious threat, and they will continue to occur along with security audits and six- and seven-figure penalty settlements.

Ransomware is just one example of cybercrime that hospitals, health systems, and physician groups must avoid. These attacks are threatening the very safety and well-being of our nation’s healthcare system. No healthcare organization is immune to the operational chaos, harrowing events, and potential financial ruin that can result from ransomware and other forms of online terrorism. Safety nets and other safeguards are available to minimize these risks, but many providers do not know how vulnerable their IT systems and networks are until it is too late.

What is your organization doing to protect your vital data and financial assets from such attacks? Do you have a written plan that outlines strategies and tactics for preventing, detecting, and responding to these attacks? What governance structure do you have in place to oversee the accountability for implementing this security plan? How aware are your employees of the organizational and personal risks associated with cybercrime? Do you have an ongoing training program to increase this awareness? Do you have enough (or any) insurance that covers cybercrime events like ransomware?

The time has come for executives and boards to step up and work closely with healthcare technology leaders to develop a robust battle plan to fight cybercrime. With more personal, medical, financial, and other critical information now available in electronic form, these leaders must become much more proactive in protecting their organization’s data and information assets from known cybercriminals.

We have a team of experienced CIOs, IT, and other technical leaders who understand how to assess, design, build, and maintain robust IT infrastructures geared towards fighting cybercrime in various healthcare environments. Some of our services within this area include:

• Security Officer as a Service (SOaaS) – We offer a remote SOaaS program to establish and manage an IT security program for clients who lack the required IT security knowledge and have limited budgets. Our program provides an affordable approach based on a 3-, 4-, or 5-year subscription program.
• Ransomware Prevention – Our team of experienced consultants is equipped to assess an organization’s IT infrastructure and develop and implement an action plan to help remediate security vulnerabilities and risks.