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Encryption policies lacking in the healthcare industry

When the public considers the danger presented by cybercrime, financial institutions generally receive most of the attention. The cost of stolen information is easier to understand when it is in the form of credit card numbers and bank account transactions. There is another sector, however, that has compiled a huge pool of sensitive data which has recently raised a number of security concerns. The healthcare industry has amassed huge volumes of patient information, ranging from bank account numbers to personal identification data. These resources present an appealing target to cyberthieves looking to use patient information to commit identity theft and fraud.
 
Tech upgrades open up vulnerabilities
The issue of healthcare security has become even more relevant with two relatively recent developments in the medical field: cloud networking and electronic health records. More hospitals are transferring their filing system to a digital medium. There are major benefits to this move, including the ability to quickly access patient data in an emergency as well as share that information with other hospitals if needed. However, placing sensitive patient information on electronic files gives hackers an opportunity to access that data. Further complicating the situation is the increasing number of hospital networks that are moving their storage and operating functions to offsite cloud servers. Depending on the level of security within the provider's IT ecosystem, hospitals could be leaving their networks vulnerable to intrusion.

Medical facilities have been the victims of a large number of cyberattacks in recent years. According to Navigant's "Information Security & Data Breach Report," healthcare entities accounted for the largest percentage of data breaches reported in the United States in 2012. In the fourth quarter alone, the healthcare industry was the victim of 40 percent of reported incidents.

Keeping cyberthieves at bay
One of the many ways in which data security experts have suggested that the healthcare industry improve its ability to protect sensitive patient information is through the use of encryption techniques, reported Healthcare Finance News contributor Greg Reid. Certainly encrypting health records that are stored on file is suggested, but with the freer exchange of this information between medical staff, encrypting that information while it is in transit is also strongly recommended.

Many medical facilities are failing in this regard, however. Of the 13 major data breaches posted to the Department of Health and Human Services' "wall of shame", nine involved encryption lapses, according to GovInfoSecurity. When transferring sensitive patient information between staff members or other hospitals, medical personnel need to ensure that they use tools such as SSL certificates to encrypt that data while it is in-transit.

Medical facilities are becoming increasingly targeted by cyberthieves. Protect sensitive patient information with an SSL certificate today.

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