Top Cyber-Security Tips to Protect Your Healthcare Industry
Until a few years ago, the primary motto in the field of healthcare was patient care. However, that’s not the case today, as the latest innovations in technology have changed the healthcare industry. Unfortunately, the healthcare industry has become a hot target for cybercriminals, which is why it is essential to know about healthcare cybersecurity.
Recent studies indicate that the healthcare industry currently has the highest data breach costs. It has been estimated that the average mitigation cost in the healthcare industry is around 6.45 million dollars. This is why it is integral to find ways to protect your healthcare industry.
The data breach cost in the healthcare field is estimated to be 65 percent more when compared to data breaches in other areas. The good news is that there are simple but effective ways to secure the healthcare industry’s data.
HIPAA Regulations
The HIPAA ( Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act of 1966) will significantly impact all healthcare providers in the United States. It is essential for healthcare providers and others in the field to make sure that they are well aware of the latest requirements and regulations.
In addition to that, healthcare providers will need to select business associates and vendors who comply with HIPAA regulations. There are two critical components included with the Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act of 1966, and they are as follows.
The HIPAA Security Rule
The HIPAA Security Rule focuses on securing the use, creation, maintenance, and receipt of personal electronic health information or data by HIPAA-covered health care organizations. The rule sets standards and guidelines for the physical, technical, and administrative handling of personal health records.
The HIPAA Privacy Rule
The HIPAA Privacy Rule was introduced to protect personal health information privacy. This means that the rule will safeguard insurance information, medical records, and other private health information. The privacy rule will also limit what information can be disclosed to third parties or used without patients’ authorization.
Use A Secure HTTPS Connection
If your health care organization has a website, you should buy an SSL certificate and install it on the website. SSL certificates will offer greater protection by securing all sensitive and confidential information that patients share with you online such as financial records, credit card information, and health details.
In other words, SSL certificates will serve the crucial function of encrypting the in-transit communication between the visitors’ browser and website servers. As a result, intruders will not be able to access or read the information transmitted.
If you want to ensure that your healthcare or medical website is free from cyberattacks and data breaches, it is best to install an SSL certificate. SSL certificates will also make your website look genuine and trustworthy to patients and other website visitors. Choosing the right SSL certificate for your healthcare website may seem like a tough decision. We suggest going for a wildcard SSL certificates because, with this, you can secure multiple first-level subdomains such as patient details, scheduled appointments, etc., under the selected main domain. To secure your healthcare website, you can buy a cheap SSL wildcard from a reliable SSL provider such as SSL2BUY.
Use Strong Passwords
Using strong passwords may seem obvious, but you will be surprised to hear that several people do not set solid or unique passwords. It is crucial to remember that strong passwords are the first line of defense, which will prevent the chances of unauthorized access to health care networks.
It is essential to set the correct password with a combination of letters, symbols, and other characters. This will make it hard for cybercriminals and hackers to gain access to the health care network, which will, in turn, prevent the chances of data breaches.
Health care organizations should consider using password manager tools instead of memorizing the passwords or storing them in your internet browsers. This is because storing passwords on browsers might put you at a greater risk of data breaches and cyberattacks.
Educate Healthcare Staff
It might surprise several readers when they hear that one of the most significant issues in healthcare cybersecurity is the human factor. In other words, some of the devastating attacks in healthcare happened due to unintentional or intentional insider threats.
Healthcare organizations need to realize that employee negligence and errors might result in data breaches and cyber-attacks. The good news is that you can avoid such issues by properly educating staff and employees on the best healthcare cybersecurity practices.
This will enable healthcare organizations to secure their healthcare network. Healthcare organizations should also consider conducting regular training programs for their staff, which will, in turn, help them to equip the team with the latest cybersecurity measures and prevention methods.
Restrict Access To Sensitive Data And Systems
Another essential thing healthcare organizations need to do is restrict access to sensitive data and systems like Electronic Health Record or EHR. If you can limit access to such systems and data, you will be able to prevent the loss of patient data.
In addition to that, healthcare organizations will have to ensure that they have adequate physical protection in place. They will also need to restrict access to sensitive patient or business data with the help of biometric access controls and by using complex passwords.
Healthcare organizations should also remember that they will reduce the chance of intruder access with multi-factor authentication. Multi-factor authentication will require users accessing specific applications and data to use either two or more methods of validation that may include the following.
- Information that is only known to the user, such as a PIN or password
- Something that authorized individuals may have, such as a key or card
- Something unique to the authorized individual such as facial recognition, eye scanning, or fingerprints
Wrapping Up
In addition to the techniques mentioned above, here are a few more cyber-security tips for protecting healthcare organizations.
- Conduct regular security audits and risk assessments
- Install and use an anti-virus software
- Regularly back-up data
- Monitor your firewalls
- Secure passwords and mobile devices
It is crucial to remember that no industry is free or safe from cyberattacks and data breaches, which is valid for healthcare organizations. Data breaches will not just result in financial threats, but they will also destroy the reputation of your business, which is why healthcare cybersecurity is essential.
