The average organization, regardless of size or industry, is under a greater threat of data breach than ever before, as digital risks continue to propagate and the defenses to avoid them lag. As a result, the frequency and subsequent damages associated with data breaches remain high and rising, and certain industries have been feeling the brunt of this trend more significantly than others, with healthcare being the first to come to mind.
Even ruling out the regulatory compliance discussion, so many other factors have directly and indirectly impacted medical firms in a negative fashion, and leaders appear to be a little behind the eight ball when it comes to fortifying their internal security protocols. Simple adjustments such as the inclusion of email encryption solutions can go a long way in the fight to defend patient data, while more complex challenges are starting to arise that demand an enhanced approach to defense.
Deeper rivers to cross
CSO Online recently listed some of the challenges healthcare providers experience in IT security that are certainly common in other industries, but not as intensely, as in the case of medical data protection. A couple were somewhat similar to guidance and reports from the past few years, such as the fact that access management and personnel oversight have been tricky, as well as the matter of mobile device security.
In both of these situations, the techniques and tools necessary to better defend data and systems are already available, but for one reason or another, medical firms have not struck the right chord quite yet. The deeper, newer and more challenging obstacles involved in securing patient data, though, have already started to arise, which means many firms will have a lot of ground to cover in efforts to catch up to the demands of defense fortification.
According to the news provider, novel medical equipment might be the priority in the coming years, as so many different devices are beginning to sprout up.
Start small
Despite the stress and anxiety that might be evoked among healthcare leaders when newer challenges arise, it is critically important to get the basics right first. After all, email systems and data storage environments are still highly common targets of cybercriminals, and simple secure cloud services and encryption tools can go a long way in dramatically reducing the risk of breach.
Once the fundamentals are covered, then it will be time to build out the strategy.
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