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The whole of healthcare sector entwining with technology have improvised their standards towards patient care delivery and also consistently evolving for a better outcome every day. Though technology has made its way into this sector, eventually the risk of cyberattacks and demand for healthcare cyber security has seen an exponential growth from past three years.

Earlier during pre-covid days, cybersecurity was least considered by the healthcare sector as most of the patient care related services were delivered offline. The situation post pandemic has made healthcare sector to adapt the online presence right from consulting patients and suggesting appropriate diagnosis. Following this surge, healthcare cyber security has begun to gain a prominent forefront at the hierarchy of priorities in healthcare management policies. A significant increase in IoT devices, network connectivity, video conferencing, tele consultation and much more.

Worldwide technological advancements through various AI related organisations have collaborated with healthcare service providers to cater state of the art technology assisted healthcare services. However, all of these solutions being programmed to be interactive pose a higher risk to vulnerabilities and being hacked or compromised to reveal sensitive information located within their data storage server. Devising an effective healthcare cybersecurity framework could be a smart widget in mitigating possible cyber risks and its associated attacks.

Moving forward let’s have a look at the key elements that would always exist while framing information and cybersecurity strategies at healthcare organizations.

  • Two / multi-factor authentication:
  • Initially during “only password days” computer systems located right from front desk to back office (medical records section), were protected with medium and strong passwords consequently they were vulnerable to cyber threats in case of a third party who could get access to the passwords. To prevent such incidents two factor authentication through digital and physical authenticators have been safeguarding confidential patient data. Having this process re-enforced, the multifactor authentication was put into action providing more of a secure environment to the stored and transmitted data, through token-based systems, multiple login prompts with associated devices, secure one time passwords for digital vaults, etc. 
  • Medical device security and compliance: Most of all the medical diagnostic devices used by hospitals (X ray, MRI scans, CT scans, etc) and devices used by patients (pulse oximeters, fitness trackers, ECG monitors, infusion pumps, etc) are now, IoT devices that communicate through a network, record, and maintain logs having patient’s health information and other sensitive data. They also contain personal information such as name, address, contact information, previous medical history, treatments, etc. Eventually, every 7 or 8 out of 10 new devices released into the market are indeed IoT devices. Thus, crucial data being stored in them are severely vulnerable to attacks by cyber criminals and hackers. To safeguard and hold liability in such information, the regulatory compliances drafted by competent authorities comes in place. Such compliances also keep the healthcare organisations covered in case of any adversities.
  • Transition towards digital payments: As we are rapidly moving towards the digital economy and the post pandemic situation has made consumers to make a shift towards the alternative – contactless transaction facilities. Regardless of the amount, transactions occur online through net banking; UPI wallets, Wi-Fi credit/debit cards. To stay connected with this transition, healthcare organisations could either develop their own competent transaction platforms/payment gateway or get themselves associated with AI data analytical solution providers for transaction purposes. This would be a progressive investment to the healthcare industry due to the maintenance of the solution against any online threats being a crucial factor.
  • Access control security with Secure Access Service Edge (SASE): Access control (Biometric, retinal scan, voice recognition, etc) to several sensitive locations within the organisation are being actively practised. This also acts as an additional layer maintaining the information and cyber security posture on-premise. These attributes also assist the organisation team with a hassle-free experience in accessing patient data, communications and delivering healthcare service. These security controls restrict hackers from gaining unauthorised access to information and increases the value of credence within the organisation and against third parties. The concept of SASE has been emerging towards the healthcare sector, providing a combination of cloud-based, on-premise associated cybersecurity solutions.
  • Invulnerable Electronic Health Record System (EHR’s) : The most crucial information that a medical organisation would maintain, this would comprise of the entire patient data including their prior medical history, insurance details, etc. Information present in the EHR’s are never static, they are always accessed and shared to healthcare professionals within the hospital or other locations, patient, caretakers, etc. this would benefit the patient for reference, and also the physician would be able to effectively diagnose the patient within a short span of time. Since the transmission of data occurs through various channels, they are equally vulnerable to be exposed by a hacker or cybercriminal. To maintain a secure environment, healthcare organisations have to devise effective information and cybersecurity strategies and maintain certain protocols to be followed by the internal team and the same to be audited periodically. Including this, awareness and training programmes must also be conducted to all levels of staff in basics of data and incident handling, this ensures the least detriment to healthcare organisations data.

Source: Internet

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