Cybersecurity Challenges
In 2019, Gartner estimated worldwide spending on information security-related products and services would be $124 billion – increasing 8% from 2018.
Despite this investment, the breaches and malicious attacks continue to grow.*
Cybersecurity within healthcare organizations is steadily rising, and with the increasing transition to cloud-based solutions the amount of potential security breaches has never been higher. It has become clear from past security breaches that due to the wealth of information they contain, patient records are some of the most sought-after assets available on the dark web and a single record can net as much as a $1000, making it a very lucrative business for hackers.
Healthcare organizations more than ever face a challenge when it comes to securing patients’ information. One of the ongoing challenges surrounding the COVID-19 Pandemic, is centered around the question of how to best make use of new and emerging technology to meet stringent data security requirements.
In 2019, 41 million patient records were breached, which is nearly three times as many as the year before.*
Organizations often rely on encryption and firewalls to protect their data, however, neither of these measures can prevent sophisticated modern cyberattacks.
One challenge regarding data security within the healthcare sector, is making sure that IT security specialists are adequately consulted and available. This may be more of a risk for smaller, private healthcare organizations that don’t have the size and breadth of our larger Provincial health organizations. Mobile deployment of IT applications and using SAAS and Cloud without strong data security protection, are practices that create an IT environment that is vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Creating a ‘healthy,’ smart and secure IT environment that protects patient data should be treated as an extension of providing patients with a clean and safe healthcare environment, and needs to be addressed more often when cybersecurity breaches are concerned.
An example of a technology and smarter approach to health IT is offered by Lenovo’s healthcare IT cybersecurity solutions and comes in the form of ThinkShield. Thinkshield by Lenovo is a customizable solution that secures critical data and business technologies with comprehensive end-to-end protection using a combination of hardware, software, services, and processes that protect healthcare IT across four key dimensions. ThinkShield includes features designed specifically for real-time endpoint protection within and beyond a healthcare facility. At the same time, it supports the dynamic workflows found in today’s healthcare environment, allowing timely access to critical patient data when needed, which is paramount to an ever evolving and increasingly complex landscape.
About Microserve
Microserve offers a full suite of IT Security services and solutions, including monitoring and management of firewalls, endpoints and servers, incident response planning, end user awareness training, multifactor authentication and vulnerability management.
To learn more about IT Security for the Healthcare Industry, contact us today.
*Source: Gartner (September 2019)
