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Research shows healthcare security is worse than retail
When it comes to data security, oftentimes it is the retail sector that is singled out for not following best practices and working to improve protection of customer data. However, a new study found that this trend may have shifted.
According to InformationWeek, one security firm's study suggested that the healthcare sector is trailing behind in the fight against malware attacks and data breaches, putting "safety and lives at stake," noted security expert Stephen Boyer.
The study examined four of the top industries and determined that healthcare organizations saw the most attacks recently, but were the slowest to respond and mitigate the risks of these events. When a breach occurs, healthcare groups take an average of five days to respond. However, it takes retail companies four days typically, and financial firms only three and a half days.
While Boyer noted that healthcare organizations are working to make improvements, attacks occurring in this industry are changing the face of cybercrime.
"You can go and get healthcare. You can go and get treatment. You can buy drugs," Boyer said. "Obviously there's fraud. Those visits, those prescriptions, go on your record. That's moving cybertheft into life and death."
Additionally, large-scale, widely publicized breaches like those that happen within the retail sector put a heightened emphasis on security issues occurring in other industries as well, including healthcare. Boyer noted that while there has yet to be a breach of such a magnitude in a firm's patient records, there are definitely reasons to worry about individual privacy.
"The Target breach was just a watershed moment in the industry," Boyer said. It's changing conversations everywhere we go."
How can healthcare firms bolster their security?
To prevent patient information from falling into the wrong hands and improve their standing among other industries, healthcare firms must take steps to better protect confidential data. According to Becker's Hospital CIO contributor Ayla Ellison, one way to achieve this is through better recognition of current threats in the sector. Once these security risks are identified, the group can work to craft specific strategies to prevent them.
Additionally, Security Magazine recommended leveraging the safeguards offered by encryption technology, which can make content unreadable to everyone but authorized users. Securing patient files at rest and in transit with encryption can considerably mitigate the risk of unauthorized third-party viewers from accessing sensitive information.
Protect data in transit with an SSL certificate today.
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