Healthcare Cybersecurity Solutions: Why They’re Essential for Modern Healthcare

The healthcare sector holds large amounts of sensitive digital data, making it an attractive target for hackers. Every healthcare institution should have healthcare cybersecurity solutions to protect patient information and hospital operations from threats.

Digital attacks on healthcare data have become more common, and hackers are adopting methods such as ransomware, phishing, social engineering, and DDoS attacks. Many healthcare settings use outdated systems with vulnerabilities, making them easy entry points for hackers.

Healthcare organizations targeted by cyberattacks are left grappling with financial expenses and damaged reputations. Cyber threats also put patients at risk by blocking providers from accessing the systems, which delays treatments.

One way to protect patient data is to comply with regulations such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), which require healthcare organizations to implement specific security measures. Adhering to these standards helps safeguard sensitive patient data and enhances defenses against cyber threats.

Healthcare Cybersecurity Challenges

Healthcare organizations hold 30% of the world’s data, including patient personal health information, Social Security numbers, and financial details. It’s easy to see why cybercriminals would employ every tactic to exploit this data for identity theft, insurance fraud, and blackmail.

Here are some common challenges faced by healthcare organizations:

  • High-Value Target: Healthcare data encapsulates plenty of personally identifiable information, making it the most prized commodity on the black market. This data has a high potential for misuse and sells more than credit card information. On the dark web, medical records can be worth up to $1,000, and the criminals understand how willing health institutions would be to pay a ransom to recover them.
  • Increasing Attack Surface: Adopting Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) and the growing use of the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) have transformed healthcare by improving efficiency and patient care. However, they expand the attack surface for threats by increasing the data collected. They’re also vulnerable areas, especially when remote workers access them.
  • Financial Impact: While an average data breach costs $4.45 million in other industries, a healthcare breach costs an average of $10.93 million. This higher price tag is due to the complexity of healthcare data, making it harder to protect and more expensive to recover from breaches. The intricate nature of health records requires extensive forensic analysis to determine what data was compromised and how to remedy the situation.

Healthcare is a delicate sector entrusted with protected health information (PHI), which introduces the challenge of being a priority target for cyber attackers. This data sells lucratively in the black market and has a bigger financial impact than other industries.

Common Cybersecurity Threats in Healthcare

Medical care institutions must be aware of cybersecurity threats to protect patient information, stay compliant, and prevent financial losses. The consequences of cybersecurity threats underscore the importance of cybersecurity in healthcare.

Let’s look at some of the most common threats:

Phishing and Social Engineering Attacks

The hospital environment sees a lot of information exchanged between personnel. Busy healthcare providers may not confirm the sources of every email, potentially leading to a phishing attack. Cybercriminals use social engineering tricks to convince workers to share information with them, which they then use for fraudulent activities.

Phishing is one of the most commonly used attack vectors in cybersecurity. Given the fast-paced environment, employees can inadvertently fall victim to these attacks, leading to unauthorized access to patient data. Malicious actors might also call help desks claiming to be from a different department and request password resets, using stolen personal information to answer security questions.

Ransomware Attacks

Ransomware attacks have become increasingly common in the healthcare sector, where hackers hold sensitive patient data hostage and demand a ransom. These attacks severely disrupt hospital operations and essential services, delay patient care, and leave patients stranded. They often result in substantial financial losses.

The complexity of ransomware has also evolved, with attackers increasingly employing double extortion tactics — encrypting data and threatening to leak it publicly if demands are unmet.

Insider Threats

Cyber threats in the healthcare sector may be external, but employees can also accidentally or maliciously compromise sensitive data. Insider threats may include a disgruntled employee who steals information to sell for revenge or an employee accessing or sharing patient records without authorization.

Insider threats account for most data breaches in healthcare, emphasizing the need for employee training and access controls.

The Role of Compliance in Healthcare Cybersecurity

Complying with regulations regarding healthcare cybersecurity helps prevent patient information from falling into the wrong hands. Compliance is also mandatory, and non-adherence can result in criminal charges and other legal penalties.

HIPAA and Data Protection

HIPAA was enacted in 1996 to reform the insurance industry by allowing individuals to keep their health insurance after changing jobs. HIPAA now also helps safeguard patient privacy in the healthcare sector by providing national standards for the protection of sensitive patient health information. It aims to ensure patient privacy, enhance the security of health information, and streamline healthcare administrative processes.

How does it do this? HIPAA mandates that healthcare organizations establish security policies and procedures to protect PHI. Its security rule requires that healthcare organizations implement administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI).

Administrative safeguards require organizations to conduct risk assessments, establish access controls, and provide ongoing security training for staff. Physical safeguards involve securing facilities and devices that store or access ePHI. In contrast, technical safeguards include data encryption during transmission, user authentication, and audit controls to monitor access to sensitive information.

These measures reduce the risk of unauthorized access to patient data and help minimize breaches.

Ensuring Compliance with Data Retention Laws

A health organization must establish data retention policies that define how long it will keep different types of data, ensuring compliance with regulations. This includes securely storing sensitive patient information and implementing processes for deleting it when it’s no longer useful.

Healthcare cybersecurity solutions simplify compliance with these data retention laws while protecting information from unauthorized access. Features such as encryption ensure unauthorized users can’t read the data, whether in storage or during transmission.

Access controls limit who can view or manipulate sensitive data, reducing the risk of breaches. Additionally, automated compliance tools streamline the management of retention schedules, ensuring that data is retained only for the required duration and securely disposed of afterward. Integrating these cybersecurity features makes it easy for healthcare organizations to manage their data lifecycle while maintaining compliance with regulations.

Essential Healthcare Cybersecurity Solutions

The evolving landscape of cyber threats calls for robust healthcare cybersecurity solutions. These solutions keep unauthorized users out and keep data safe.

Network Security and Firewalls

Healthcare network security and firewalls filter incoming and outgoing traffic based on predefined security rules, blocking unauthorized access.

An intrusion detection system (IDS) monitors network traffic for suspicious activity and generates alerts of potential intrusions, allowing administrators to respond quickly to threats. An intrusion prevention system (IPS) detects and actively blocks malicious traffic in real-time, preventing attacks before they compromise the network. Network segmentation isolates sensitive data and systems, limiting the potential impact of a breach.

These technologies create a multi-layered security approach that protects patient information and ensures compliance with HIPAA.

Endpoint Security Solutions

More connected devices in a healthcare organization increase the risk of an attack, so the endpoints must be secure. Securing endpoints such as medical devices, laptops, and mobile devices is helpful as these devices can be vulnerable to cyber threats, making them prime targets for attackers seeking unauthorized access to sensitive information.

Implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) enhances security by requiring users to provide two or more verification factors before gaining access. MFA reduces the risk of unauthorized entry even if credentials are compromised. Additionally, strict access controls ensure that only authorized personnel can access specific data based on their roles.

Data Encryption and Secure Messaging

Encryption is one of the best methods of making data inaccessible to hackers — even when they gain access. It acts as a safeguard, rendering data unreadable to anyone who does not possess the appropriate decryption keys, mitigating the risks of data breaches.

Secure messaging tools facilitate safe communication in environments where healthcare providers frequently share PHI. These tools utilize end-to-end encryption to ensure that messages between healthcare professionals and patients remain confidential and secure.

Security Awareness Training for Healthcare Staff

As skilled as your staff may be, human error is a major cybersecurity threat. It’s often caused by employees clicking on malicious links or mishandling patient information. Educating staff about common cyber threats and phishing detection reduces the risk of breaches.

Every healthcare organization should empower employees to be aware of cyber threats. Regular training sessions with real-world examples and interactive components help reinforce these concepts, making staff more vigilant.

Advanced Medical Cybersecurity Solutions for the Future

As cyber criminals upgrade their tactics, healthcare organizations should scale their security measures by upgrading cybersecurity solutions. How better to strengthen defenses than to utilize artificial intelligence, automation, and cloud security solutions?

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

AI algorithms analyze large amounts of data from multiple sources, identifying patterns and anomalies that may indicate potential cyber threats. This capability is particularly valuable for detecting sophisticated attacks.

For example, AI can monitor the behavior of IoMT devices in healthcare settings, quickly identifying signs of compromise. AI-driven solutions can automate initial containment actions when a threat is detected, reducing response times.

The scalability of AI solutions means they can handle the growing volumes of data generated by interconnected medical devices and EMRs, allowing healthcare providers to maintain cybersecurity without compromising operational efficiency.

Cloud Security Solutions

Many healthcare institutions have adopted cloud-based applications to enhance operational efficiency, facilitate real-time data access, and improve patient care. However, this shift also introduces significant cybersecurity challenges, requiring cloud security solutions to safeguard patient data.

One of the best cloud solutions is data encryption, which keeps prying eyes away from patient information. Encryption keeps patient information private and maintains compliance.

Strong access controls and authentication mechanisms restrict access to authorized personnel, including role-based access controls that align with the principle of least privilege, minimizing the risk of insider threats.

How to Choose the Right Cybersecurity Services for Healthcare Providers

Choosing the right cybersecurity for healthcare providers is the answer to safeguarding sensitive patient data and ensuring compliance. But you don’t just need someone who will check the boxes — you want a partner in protecting your data.

Here are some things to look for when choosing between healthcare cybersecurity companies:

  • Ensure the provider complies with healthcare-specific regulations like HIPAA, HITECH, and GDPR (if applicable).
  • Look for providers with experience in healthcare cybersecurity and knowledge of common threats in the sector.
  • Request case studies or references.
  • Check if the provider uses advanced encryption for data both in transit and at rest.
  • Ensure strong user authentication methods such as multi-factor authentication (MFA).
  • Choose services with round-the-clock detection and response.
  • Ensure the services can scale with the growth of your organization.
  • Verify compatibility with your current electronic health record (EHR) systems, devices, and software.
  • Opt for providers that offer thorough risk and remediation planning to identify and address vulnerabilities specific to your environment.
  • Look up online reviews and testimonials to see what others have said about their experience.

Protect Your Data with TekStream

Addressing cybersecurity in healthcare is critical. Reliable healthcare cybersecurity solutions keep guard and ensure that attacks don’t disrupt operations and put patients’ data at risk.

TekStream’s Managed Detection and Response (MDR) services monitor and detect threats 24/7. Our healthcare cybersecurity services use advanced technology and expert analysis to scan endpoints, networks, and other digital assets and keep you ahead of malicious actors.

Curious how else we can safeguard your practice? Contact us to learn more!