More Ideas On Tightening Hospital IT Security

Security deserves all of the attention you can spare, and it never hurts to revisit the fundamentals, in part because the cost of lagging security measures is so high. After all, it’s more than likely that your organization will face a breach, as almost 90% of healthcare organizations experienced at least one breach within the past two years, according to a Poneman Institute study done earlier this year.

Here’s some options to consider when tightening up your security operations, courtesy of Healthcare IT Leaders, whose suggestions include the following:

Hire white hat hackers: Mayo Clinic reportedly tried this a few years ago, and learned a great deal. While its security measures seem to have gotten something of a beatdown, the Clinic also found a bunch of security holes and got recommendations on how to close those holes.

Lock down employee mobile devices: As mobile technology increasingly becomes a key part of your infrastructure, it’s important to keep it secured – but that can be tough when employees own the phone. One question to ask is whether your IT could lock or wipe data from employee phones and tablets if need be. What are your legal options for securing critical data on employee-owned devices?

Review medical device security:  Networked medical devices – from respirators and infusion pumps to MRI scanners – increasingly pose security threats, as any device that receives and transmits data can be a target for attackers.  It’s critical to audit these devices, while setting careful security standards for device makers.

Train staff on security issues:  Often, breaches are due to human error, so it’s critical to educate non-IT employees on the basics of security hygiene. Offering basic security training should cover not only cover ways to avoid security breakdowns – such as avoiding generic or default passwords and phishing e-mails — but also explanations of how such breaches affect patients.

Encourage risk reporting:  According to Poneman, almost half of healthcare organizations discovered a breach through an employee within the past two years. What’s more, nearly one-third of data breaches came to light due to patient complaints. It’s smart to encourage these reports, as IT staff can’t have eyes everywhere.

Disable laptop cameras and microphones:  Laptops generally come with a webcam and microphone, but at least in an enterprise setting, it may be better to disable these functions. Why? For one thing, attackers may be able to listen to private conversations through the microphone.

As I see it, the bottom line on all of these activities is to infuse security thinking into as many IT interactions as possible.  It may be trite to talk about a culture of security (it’s easier said than done, and too many organizations make empty promises) but such a culture can actually make a big impact on your security status.

To have the biggest impact, though, that culture has to extend all the way to the C-suite, and unfortunately, that rarely seems to happen. When I read research on how often healthcare organizations underspend on security, it seems pretty clear that many senior execs don’t take this issue as seriously as that should. And if the staggering level of health data breaches happening lately isn’t enough to scare them straight, I don’t know what will.

About the author

Anne Zieger

Anne Zieger is a healthcare journalist who has written about the industry for 30 years. Her work has appeared in all of the leading healthcare industry publications, and she's served as editor in chief of several healthcare B2B sites.

   

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