Cybersecurity for Healthcare Professionals

By J. Tran

"Cybersecurity for Healthcare Professionals" is a conversation about keeping you and your patients safe from cyberattacks. With the ever-evolving risk of all internet users becoming victim to cyber crime, the healthcare industry requires extra attention in ushering forth a new era of preventative care that includes maintaining network security and protecting patients from an often overlooked, different kind of threat.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J. Tran
• Release date: Oct 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393187707

Book preview

Cybersecurity in Healthcare 

Introduction to Cybersecurity 

Cybersecurity threats are dominating the current healthcare landscape but before we get into the details of that, let’s skim over the basics. The internet provides loads of opportunities – both good and bad. While the average person gets access to heaps of information, black hat hackers get treasure troves of private data to exploit and leverage for unethical means. 

Today’s internet is significantly different from that of two decades ago. With consistent traffic, public IPs, and a plethora of access points, hackers have a field day manipulating vulnerabilities in the system and developing harmful software with negative intent. To make matters worse, they get smarter every day, and the rate at which institutions are developing security efforts is much slower. Hackers continue to become creative with how their viruses can move through scans and security measures. 

What is cybersecurity? 

The protocol developed to keep our data out of the wrong hands is called cybersecurity. It includes different techniques that protect data, programs, and networks from unauthorized access, damage, and attacks. 

To put it simply, computing security includes physical and cybersecurity. Enterprises use both approaches to protect their systems and networks from unauthorized access. Using new cybersecurity measures helps in preventing different scales of cyberattacks while assisting in risk management. 

What does it protect us from? 

The three main things cybersecurity protects us against are: 

Unauthorized modification 

Unauthorized deletion 

Unauthorized access 

This is synonymous with the AIC triad, which is referred to as forming the three pillars of security. The AIC triad is availability, integrity, and confidentiality. Most organizations rely on these principles to develop new security policies. Which organizations, you ask? The first example that might come to mind would be the finance industry, but in the current climate, many industries are affected by cybersecurity measures. In fact, institutions like schools, public service sectors, and hospitals are highly susceptible to cybersecurity threats. 

The Current State of Cybersecurity in Healthcare

We’re living in an era that ‘lives’ on the internet, so it’s surprising why an attack on the foundation of the system sustaining people’s health would be ever come into play. The scale and intensity of cybersecurity attacks are growing day by day as healthcare providers implement new internet-connected technology to improve patient care. 

However, any new technology that helps them provide better care is a double-edged sword – more systems connected to the internet means more access points for hackers to exploit. 

One would think that these attacks only harm the healthcare sector, but we need to take a closer look – healthcare data breaches, BYOD (or Bring Your Own Device) security, and ransomware attacks on systems are a top concern for various businesses and even the government. 

The WannaCry Cyberattack 

One of