16 January, 2018
Cyber security in the healthcare industry has long been a major topic with security experts, but these companies continue to be one of the most targeted on the Internet.
According to a recent survey, even though healthcare companies understand the need for security, 80% of the ones surveyed admitted to data breaches.
What makes healthcare companies a bigger target is the massive amount of data stored. Hospitals and doctor offices have moved towards IoT devices that help them manage patient data. Attached to these medical records are patient social security information, background data and even financial accounts.
Hackers have changed their goals and now target IoT devices due to their inherently bad cyber security programming. When these devices first launched, they were poorly programmed to protect from hackers, because they weren’t a major target and were considered uninteresting to attackers. However, hackers have targeted medical devices as well as IoT devices including home automation tools, children’s cameras and toys, and anything that has Internet connectivity.
Medical devices are especially interesting to hackers because of the interconnectivity between the target device and the victim’s data. Experts surveyed agreed that the biggest concern is malware infecting systems. Malware infected IoT devices were found to be the foundation for the latest attack on the Internet’s major system, DNS. DNS servers were attacked by a massive DDoS based on malware infected IoT devices.
How Can Companies Get Started?
Containing an out-of-control security hazard isn’t easy, but it’s imperative for the protection of the organization and the brand. The first step is to organize a team of professionals to identify systems at risk. Every system that has capabilities to be a vector to an attacker should be documented and added to the list of concerns.
Once devices are documented, the organization and its security experts can design and implement the right security campaign. Just remember that many times the right campaign increases budget concerns and can oftentimes require some user downtime. The end result, however, is a more secure system that protects the brand and user data.
The only way to secure your network against these hidden threats is through the right monitoring and security software. With monitoring software, you can protect the network from threats by analyzing unusual behavior and reporting it to the administrator. Instead of waiting until your customers find out, monitoring software will alert the administrator before more data is breached.
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