Cybersecurity in the World of Healthcare

The digitalization in the healthcare industry is creating a huge potential for improvements in clinical outcomes, and the way healthcare is delivered. The health data sets are rapidly growing, both in volume and in complexity, as the sources of data keep on multiplying every other day. The industry is trying to keep pace with the developments and advancements in technology, and most importantly, health IT is more cautious about making the move into the digital era. The increased connectivity to computer networks has increased the risks of exposing valuable patient data into the wrong hands. This is why concerns regarding the security of healthcare data and devices are rising day by day.

The healthcare industry is indeed one of the top sectors enduring the highest risk of cybersecurity vulnerabilities. This is because of two reasons: one for its rich source of valuable patient data, and the other being its weak defensive measures. However, due to continuous ransomware and phishing attacks that happened in recent years, the healthcare industry has started to focus on taking measures to defend any vulnerabilities and prevent sensitive health information from being compromised. For this, it is imperative that cybersecurity becomes an integral part of the healthcare system.

The Significance of Cybersecurity in Healthcare

Time and again, healthcare is considered an attractive target for cybercriminals, and due to the increasing threats, healthcare industries are prompted to spend more time and cost on data security.  In today’s healthcare industry, the use of IoT devices, smart technology, and network connectivity are becoming indispensable. As connectivity and proliferation of devices increase, the need for cybersecurity becomes prominent.

Cybersecurity breaches include anything from stealing health information and phishing attacks to ransomware and other vulnerabilities attacking implanted medical devices. Moreover, the use of IoT devices in medical industry is paving the way for even more vulnerable endpoints and copious opportunities for hackers to easily gain access to medical devices and subsequently, the valuable patient records. These breaches can, ultimately, cripple health systems, and put sensitive patient data at stake, potentially threatening many lives and livelihoods.

Importance of Data Security

In today’s digitally advanced healthcare world, cybersecurity has become all the more critical to patient safety. As relentless swarms of cyber-attacks are severely disrupting the systems, protecting patient information is becoming the utmost concern for any healthcare provider nowadays. Once attacked, there requires huge expenditures on the part of the provider to repair the damage and retrieve whatever the hacker has meddled with. It takes not only lots of time, money, and operational downtime for the provider to recover, but can victimize and jeopardize lives of many.

This is why the need for cybersecurity in the field of healthcare information technology is continually increasing. By creating efficient cybersecurity solutions within the healthcare infrastructure, it is possible to provide data privacy and security provisions that protect patients’ private medical data from different kinds of threats. Cybersecurity experts ensure that the common shared data in the healthcare system is encoded and stay totally anonymous. They make sure that the entire health data in the system remains protected and confidential throughout the organization.

Managing Cybersecurity Risks

With the Cyber-attacks and security breaches steadily increasing across the healthcare sector, organizations need to be increasingly aware of the importance of managing cybersecurity risks. However, the size and diversity of medical data can be ultimately challenging for healthcare providers. The main objective here is to use the available technology tools to identify and isolate network threats, and as a result, secure the integrity of patient data. Moreover, the use of advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) can help analyze patterns that indicate malicious activities and use it to detect new and unknown attack strategies. 

A cyber risk management strategy could make the organization self-aware of possible threats. It is important that they organize and develop clear cyber priorities and resources to identify potential security issues and threats against the facility’s digital assets. Active monitoring of the organization’s systems is equally important to detect unwanted/abnormal activities within the system and prevent them from causing any damage to the systems. Phishing attacks, on the other hand, can happen due to lack of security awareness among staff. Unauthorized devices can become an easy entry point for hackers to get remote access to internal systems.

Understanding the reality of cyber threats, it has become important for every healthcare organization to establish a top-down strategy that helps manage privacy risks and cybersecurity across all systems in the facility. Hospital management professionals have to be aware of the degree to which cyber threats can jeopardize the organization. In order to mitigate it, they have to work with cyber experts who ensure system protection. Deep knowledge about the industry and its challenges can prepare management professionals efficiently to handle any kind of situation. In those lines, IIHMR, recognized as the best institute for Masters in Public Health in India, has been providing top-notch healthcare education and hands-on training for students to help them gain expertise in technical operations along with administrative functions.

Our programs at IIHMR allow students to keep pace with the changing industry trends so that they can maintain an insightful scrutiny over healthcare administration with efficiency to fend off any possible threats and risks to protect patient privacy and goodwill.