These statistics serve up a useful reminder: Cybersecurity is an area that no healthcare organization can afford to ignore.
To understand why cybersecurity is of outsized concern in this sector, try looking at it from the point of view of cyber criminals. In around 90% of attempts to intrude, manipulate, steal, or destroy data or systems, the primary motive is financial gain. Healthcare organizations tend to hold large volumes of sensitive personal data; exactly the type of information that can demand a high price on the dark web. And of course, when a critical healthcare system goes down, the impact can be catastrophic. Criminals know that a clinic or hospital will do whatever it takes to stay up and running; something that helps make healthcare a prime target for ransomware and other extortion campaigns.
Alongside this, the typical healthcare business offers multiple entry points to take advantage of. Busy clinical staff are not always as diligent as they could be when it comes to cyber hygiene. Meanwhile, the digitization of healthcare and a proliferation of new connected devices means a larger digital footprint, and more entry points for hackers to explore.
Against this backdrop, it is vital for healthcare organizations to understand where and why they are vulnerable, and what processes and technologies need to be in place to build cyber resilience.
Is there greater use of remote patient monitoring, remote consultations, mobile apps, and online portals? Do you have new systems in play for things like patient billing and consultation scheduling? All of this translates into the creation of a lot of extra data. And in fact, estimates suggest that the annual growth rate of data within the healthcare sector is 36%; 6% faster than manufacturing, and 10% faster than financial services.
The more data you control, the harder the challenge in securing it. Managing larger and more varied datasets tends to require more personnel and human input, increasing the likelihood of error. Estimates suggest that the average healthcare organization holds more than 42 million sensitive data records. A single breach can potentially expose millions of records at once, leading to major financial, legal, and reputational damage.
If you don’t have the right remote device and asset management capabilities, it becomes especially challenging to maintain visibility and control over your IT estate.
For example, different locations might interpret security policies in different ways, making it harder to implement a uniform approach, and leading to inconsistent protection across your organization. If you have to physically visit each and every computer and piece of machinery to ensure they are properly configured and updated, it can be a massive strain on both time and budgets.
On the other, it’s absolutely vital that clinical staff have the required access to the right data at the right time in order to deliver effective patient care.
Healthcare data security involves managing a balancing act between data protection and accessibility. There’s no quick fix for this. Instead, it involves implementing a package of measures: things like role-based access controls (RBACs), secure but user-friendly digital health record systems, multi-factor authentication, and end-to-end encryption for communication channels.
RFID-based equipment tracking, smart beds, automated patient data updates, smart environmental monitoring: these are just a few of the IoT-related initiatives that you may have in place already or are considering implementing.
However, with new technologies come new risks. In 2022 alone, the healthcare sector saw a 33% year-on-year increase in the volume of IoT malware attacks. The more devices you introduce (for example, connected sensors, monitors, and trackers), the bigger your attack surface, and the greater the chances of data exposure. As you embrace new IoT projects, it’s essential that your device management and security practices remain fit-for-purpose: i.e. capable of tracking and controlling each and every device you have in play.
It’s a common problem throughout the sector. In fact, according to one study by the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), 80% of healthcare organizations were found to have legacy operating systems in place.
Budget restraints coupled with the need to ensure continuity of care mean that it’s impossible to upgrade your legacy systems all at once. The emphasis has to be on the appropriate management of the ongoing risks. This includes (where possible), continuous monitoring of legacy equipment for unusual patterns or unauthorized access attempts, implementation of custom patches, firewalls to limit their exposure to the broader network, and enhanced access controls.
Around 90% of cybersecurity incidents are linked to human error: people inadvertently taking action they shouldn’t, whether it’s clicking on infected links, divulging their credentials, or downloading apps without IT’s knowledge or oversight (shadow IT).
Regular, role-specific cybersecurity training is obviously essential. But so too is the realization that no matter how effective your training, you can never completely mitigate against the risk of human error, especially in an environment where attention is focused squarely on patient care. It’s another reason why visibility is so important: such as, keeping track of each and every device across the network, monitoring for suspicious activity, and being able to intervene quickly where necessary.
What data, devices, applications, and users do we have? Where are they? What are they used for? And are they safe? Cybersecurity starts with understanding what it is you are trying to protect.
It’s one of the reasons why it’s so important to create and maintain an up-to-date inventory of all hardware, software, and network devices, including IoT. Armed with this information, you can also classify your assets based on their criticality and sensitivity, and prioritize protection for the most important and vulnerable assets such as legacy equipment.
Alongside the question, “What assets do we have?”, you also need to ask “What’s the best way to keep them protected?”
Especially with growing volumes of sensitive patient data and a scattered estate of devices to protect, over-reliance on manual intervention becomes a critical risk in itself. A remote management, maintenance and remote control solution becomes a must-have tool. This ensures that any device in any clinical department can be accessed in just a few clicks. Resolve any issue or investigate any anomaly remotely, plan and roll out critical updates, and intervene in exactly the right way and at the right time to keep your organization safe.
The least privilege principle dictates that users only have access to the data and resources necessary for their role, thereby minimizing the risk of unauthorized access. Deviations from this; for example, attempts to access resources not typically required for a role, can be flagged as potential security incidents.
To translate this into practice, healthcare organizations should seek to implement centralized management of user permissions, keeping you in complete control over who has access to what.
TeamViewer’s capabilities include remote access and control, maintenance and support, and centralized management of all connected devices.
As one of the world’s most trusted remote connectivity platforms, we ensure your healthcare organization is all set to lay the foundations for cybersecurity resilience. Here’s how.
For each and every device across your network, TeamViewer equips you to investigate anomalies and fix issues before they become big problems. Through the solution’s central dashboard, you can monitor, manage, and access all endpoints, control user permissions, gather real-time device information, reconfigure when needed, and detect and patch vulnerabilities.
In the event of a suspected incident, cybersecurity teams can use TeamViewer to securely connect to the endpoint in question, liaise with the user, deliver a fix, and isolate the endpoint if needed. TeamViewer also provides remote access to unattended devices, enabling you to reconfigure equipment outside of consultation hours to ensure no disruption to patient care.
Day-to-day cybersecurity management involves monitoring all devices, controlling permissions for new starters, including locums and agency staff, and investigating issues promptly. Our enterprise remote connectivity solution, TeamViewer Tensor enables you to get control of all of this. The solution ensures you have complete visibility of all IT assets, including IoT devices, across each and every facility and clinical department.
TeamViewer enables real-time endpoint protection, threat detection, and proactive threat blocking to safeguard your organization. Alongside this, the solution deploys enterprise-grade encryption protocols for secure connections between devices, encrypted data transfer, multi-factor authentication, audit trails, and role-based access controls. Fully-aligned with HIPAA and GDPR, the solution ensures you’re all set to meet your compliance requirements.
TeamViewer is cross-compatible across all operating systems, including Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. As such, it provides you with a single solution for managing, monitoring, maintaining, and securing all devices across your healthcare organization.
TeamViewer Tensor supports automation of routine cybersecurity tasks such as software updates, patch management, and recurring system diagnostics. This helps to reduce the workload burden of IT and security teams, freeing up resources to focus on your priorities.
TeamViewer enables seamless integration with existing solutions, including IT service management, security information and event management (SIEM), as well as endpoint detection and response (EDR). In this way, the solution enhances your existing capabilities while providing a valuable tool for remote management and support.
Thanks to TeamViewer, liaising with IT is no longer a chore: something that can help massively in building a culture of cybersecurity vigilance. If a clinical staff member has a concern, they can connect with remote support staff in an instant, who can view and control the employee’s device in real-time, facilitating quick and effective problem resolution.
Spotlight
Cybersecurity is particularly important in healthcare because this is one of the most frequently targeted sectors by threat actors. Healthcare organizations are perceived (correctly) as holding large volumes of valuable data. As such, healthcare organizations must take special care to ensure they are protected.
Yes. TeamViewer provides a single platform for remotely managing, monitoring, and securing devices across an entire network. Working alongside other tools (for example, anti-virus, firewalls, EDR and SIEM), TeamViewer can significantly enhance your ability to manage the cybersecurity threat.
TeamViewer enables you to deliver proactive cybersecurity management, i.e. remotely investigating and addressing anomalies before they become major problems. It allows you to maintain visibility across all your devices, manage patch roll-outs and updates, and stay compliant with regulatory obligations.
