The authorities in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands, and New Zealand have issued an alert on cyber security in hospitals and common tactics used by cybercriminals to gain initial access to victims’ networks.
These tactics include exploiting insecure configurations, weak controls, and other bad cyber hygiene practices.
The aim of the release is to help organizations defend themselves against these attacks and better protect their data.
According to security authorities, hospitals that do not take these measures risk being attacked and having their patients’ data stolen.
This can lead to serious consequences, such as identity theft and fraud, as well as reputational damage.
In fact, cybercriminals are increasingly targeting healthcare institutions, since healthcare systems are considered to be more vulnerable.
Authorities recommend that all organizations be vigilant and take steps to defend themselves against cybersecurity in hospitals
Hospital cybersecurity at risk
The authorities responsible for information security in hospitals shows that data protection and availability of critical services have become an important issue for all hospitals.
It is essential that you take the necessary steps to protect your patients’ data.
By taking the necessary precautions, hospitals can help ensure that their patients’ information is protected from cybercriminals.
How to protect against attacks that compromise cybersecurity in hospitals?
Hospitals can protect themselves against cyber attacks by taking several precautions, including implementing strong security measures such as authentication, two-factor encryption, and regular vulnerability testing.
They should also educate employees on cyber hygiene best practices and create policies and procedures for responding to cyber incidents.
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Implement strong security measures, such as authentication and two-factor encryption
Cybersecurity authorities in hospitals emphasize that healthcare institutions must implement strong security measures to prevent cybercriminals from accessing their systems.
This includes two-factor authentication, which requires the use of a second method, such as an access code or a key, to authenticate a user.
It is also important to encrypt data, as this prevents it from being accessed by cybercriminals, even if they manage to gain access to the systems.
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Regularly test systems for vulnerabilities
Healthcare organizations should regularly test their systems to ensure that their hospital cybersecurity measures are working properly and to identify any vulnerabilities that can be exploited by cybercriminals.
This can include using vulnerability scanners to check whether systems are exposed to any known security problems.
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Educate employees on best practices for cyber hygiene
Employees in healthcare facilities must be trained so that they can recognize the signs of a cyber attack and take the necessary steps to protect themselves.
They must also know how to report any suspicious activity so that the necessary steps can be taken to prevent an attack.
In addition, employees should be careful when opening e-mails or attachments of unknown origin, as this may allow cybercriminals to get into their systems.
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Create policies and procedures for responding to cyber incidents
Healthcare facilities should have policies and procedures in place to ensure that employees know how to respond to a cybersecurity incident in hospitals.
This may include isolating affected systems to prevent the problem from spreading.
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Backing up data to ensure that information is not lost
Hospitals should back up their data to ensure that information is not lost if a cyber attack occurs.
Using cloud storage or other backup to ensure that information is kept secure is part of the strategy to ensure patient data integrity.
In addition, it is important that hospitals test their backups to ensure that they are working properly and that information can be restored if necessary
Finally, healthcare organizations should notify the appropriate regulatory bodies of any hospital cybersecurity incidents that occur, as this can help prevent other healthcare organizations from being affected.
If hospitals take these steps, they can help ensure that their patients’ data is protected from cybercriminals.
By taking these precautions, hospitals can help protect their patients’ information and keep them safe from identity theft, fraud, and other harm.
The CipherTrust solution is an important resource that can be associated with cybersecurity in hospitals
According to IDC, more than 175 zetabytes of data will be created by 2025, and today more than half of all corporate data is stored in the cloud.
To deal with the complexity of where data is stored, CipherTrust provides strong capabilities to protect and control access to sensitive data in databases, files, and containers.
The portfolio of data protection products that make up the CipherTrust Data Security Platform solution enables healthcare organizations to protect data at rest and in motion across the entire IT ecosystem and ensures that the keys to this information are always protected and only under your control.
It simplifies data security, improves operational efficiency, and accelerates compliance time. Regardless of where your data resides.
About Eval
Eval is the pioneer in eSignature and the only one with a special dedication to healthcare. Our solutions are fully customized for hospitals, clinics, laboratories and operators. In addition to other markets such as finance, education and industry.
Our product portfolio offers several benefits, among them: electronic signature of patient records meeting all legal requirements, cost reduction, high performance and the definitive elimination of paper with the electronic health patient record.
Eval has been offering technology that transforms the health area for over 18 years, specializing in digital transformation, eliminating paper in hospitals, clinics, laboratories and operators, as well as in data protection for this segment.
Eval Security is value
