The cyber threats against Healthcare are increasing in severity, complexity and frequency

Augusta University Health System, based in Augusta, Georgia, has reported that a phishing attack on email accounts that occurred last fall may have led to the unauthorized access of protected health information (PHI) of approximately 417,000 individuals.

In a notice posted on its website, Augusta University officials said the organization was targeted by a series of fraudulent emails on Sept. 10-11, 2017. “These sophisticated phishing emails solicited usernames and passwords, giving attackers access to a small number of internal email accounts,” officials said.

A second phishing attack occurred July 11, 2018, and appears to be smaller in scope, Augusta University President Brooks Keel, Ph.D., wrote in a separate message.

Security breaches have become common place. Daily, we hear cybersecurity breach reports in the media. However, when healthcare institutions are impacted, consumers see this as “more detrimental” than other industry breaches.

Healthcare continued to be a lucrative target for hackers in 2017 with ransomware, cloud storage mishaps, and phishing emails dominating the year. In 2018, these threats will continue, and cyber criminals will likely get more “crafty” and “creative”. 

Within the past two years, 94 percent of healthcare organizations have had at least one cybersecurity hack. CIOs must work cross-functionally throughout the organization to educate and partner with departments to help them understand the impact of a breach and the importance of establishing a systematically strong security posture.

Ransomware and Cybersecurity

It’s a fact that ransomware is dominating the cybersecurity landscape, particularly in the healthcare industry. An organization is hit with ransomware every 40 seconds, up from every two minutes in 2017. New tactics, new variants and more sophisticated cyber criminals are resulting in an increase in these attacks, not just against individuals, but against businesses.

Small companies, medium-sized businesses and large enterprises across industries are under attack. When it comes to ransomware, company size or industry is not a factor. Cyber criminals don’t discriminate. While some industries continue to be bigger targets than others, data shows that no sector is immune to ransomware attacks. Healthcare organizations however, continue to be high-profile.

How do healthcare organizations protect against ransomware attacks? It starts with a systematic approach to IT security and a commitment to establishing a strong security posture. 

A Systematic Approach

Think about your institution’s approach to security. Is it systematic and consistent? Are disaster recovery measures in place? Is your security posture strong? Are there procedures and processes in place to proactively secure IT environments?

Without an ongoing systematic approach to IT security, a strong security posture to protect patient data, is in jeopardy. The healthcare industry continues to be a prime target for information theft as it lags other industries in securing critical data and medical information which has the greatest value to hackers. It is imperative for healthcare providers to invest time and funding into maintaining and ensuring the protection of healthcare technologies and the confidentiality of patient information from unauthorized access.

Proactive security in healthcare is therefore, a must! It means predicting threats that your institution might face and arming yourself ahead of time. Healthcare providers must take an “offensive” posture to protecting patient data from security breaches by developing and adhering to a comprehensive plan.

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In protecting your organization’s network 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, our cyber security experts’ diligence ensures that your business’ information systems run efficiently and that your data remains secure and working as intended.

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