Cybersecurity Strategies for Protecting Corporate Data in the Health Sector

As the healthcare industry continues to face the rising onslaught of cyber threats, healthcare cybersecurity becomes ever more urgent.

Unauthorised access to corporate and patient data compromises personal privacy, demanding advanced data encryption, multi-factor authentication and other security measures to combat cyber-attacks, ransomware attacks and general data breaches.

By monitoring suspicious activities and installing proactive protocols, healthcare organisations can respond before malicious actors exploit patient information.

Let JustSolve help your organisation to protect patients and healthcare data in this blog.

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The Importance of Cybersecurity in Healthcare.

Healthcare professionals dedicate their lives to promoting human well-being - physical, psychological and social.

But without guaranteed confidentiality of patient records, patients can be subject to public humiliation, blackmail and fraud, making healthcare data security an integral component of the sector’s mission.

Moreover, security breaches in healthcare can result in severe impacts: financial losses, legal penalties and irreparable reputational damage. Healthcare organisations take cybersecurity precautious to ensure regulatory compliance, avoiding audits, fines and even criminal proceedings.

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Common Cybersecurity Threats in Healthcare.

Cybersecurity threats in healthcare take many forms, jeopardising medical practices and patient confidentiality. They can impair the functioning of medical devices and impede insurance portability and accountability.

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Phishing and Social Engineering

Data protection in healthcare is often weakest at the employee-level, where healthcare workers are deceived into providing nefarious actors with access to sensitive information.

Phishers attempt to emulate the communication forms of legitimate professionals and entities to exploit the instinctive goodwill and trusting nature of ordinary people.

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Ransomware

Ransomware is a form of malicious software (or ‘malware’) which blocks a user’s access to their computer, offering to restore functionality in exchange for a fee. These can cause healthcare organisations major costs, delaying important medical procedures and, of course, infringing on patient confidentiality.

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Insider Threats

In some cases, healthcare privacy is compromised from within. Healthcare professionals are occasionally misled by the promise of reward money and agree to serve as accomplices to cybercriminals.  In some extreme cases, simple negligence can prove just as harmful.

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Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs)

More sophisticated attacks sometimes recur over a protracted period of time, after an intruder imbeds a piece of code within a healthcare organisation’s digital infrastructure.

This allows them to monitor an organisation’s data internally, obtaining confidential information, extorting or outright stealing money, or otherwise undermining the entity’s functioning.
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Want to safeguard your healthcare organisation with cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions? Speak to a specialist.

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Notable Security Breaches in Healthcare.
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Healthcare Security Breaches South African.

South Africa’s healthcare and cybersecurity sectors have been reeling from a tide of cyberattacks which has been steadily rising since 2019.  
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Discovery Insure, GEMS and the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) have all been subject to major ransomware, phishing scams and, most commonly, botnets.

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Healthcare Security Breaches Around the World.

Moreover, the growing international list of cybersecurity breaches in healthcare demonstrates the global nature of the threat.

In the USA, 32 million patients in the US have already been affected by this year alone, comprising 275 cybercrimes against the healthcare sector.

In the UK, the pathology testing company Synnovis was attacked on 3 June 2024 by ransomware which postponed thousands of appointments and operations across four of England’s most important hospitals.

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Strategies for Protecting Healthcare Data.

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Access Controls and Authentication

Modern digital infrastructures in healthcare require continuous multi-factor verification from users, providing only least-privilege access to minimise the vulnerability of the greater system.

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Security Training and Awareness

Cybersecurity data breaches in healthcare rely on human error, manipulating trusting staff members into providing illegitimate access to devious actors. Rigorous training programmes empower healthcare professionals to recognise threats while remaining vigilant at all times.

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Network Security Measures

Firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention systems, and other cybersecurity measures like micro-segmentation protect networks from infiltration. This keeps entire systems from being overly exposed, risking mass cyber assaults that compromise entire organisations.

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Data Encryption

Whether being stored (“at rest”) or transmitted between parties (“in transit”), data is only truly secured when it is encrypted. This means that data is rendered unreadable to unauthorised parties, making it essential in modern cybersecurity arsenals.

The emerging quantum computing revolution will likely further encourage encryption and decryption protocols, while massively expanding processing power.

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Security Audits and Vulnerability Assessments

Systems require regular review to determine security weaknesses. These highlight opportunities for improvement, so you brick up any flaws before cybercriminals do.

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The Role of Advanced Technologies in Healthcare Cybersecurity.

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Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) empowers healthcare organisations to rapidly detect and neutralise malware, phishing attempts and other cyber threats.

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Blockchain Technology

All but impervious, blockchain technology offers the potential for highly secure data transactions that maintain integrity. This empowers organisations to verify identity with great confidence and keep supply chains transparent.

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Advanced Analytics

By identifying data patterns using advanced analytics features, healthcare organisations can deploy defensive software that proactively identifies and addresses security threats.

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Regulatory Compliance and Healthcare Cybersecurity.

Cybersecurity in healthcare helps distributors and providers guarantee total confidentiality for all their patients.

South Africa regulates the sharing of healthcare data through a variety of acts, including most notably the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), similar in its aims to the USA’s Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (1996).

POPIA requires all businesses to register, and adhere to its standards for all collection, storage and transmission of personal information, on penalty of fines, audits or criminal proceedings.

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Future Trends in Healthcare Cybersecurity.

As healthcare and digital infrastructures continue to evolve, the most resilient organisations are those that keep abreast of the latest developments in both spheres.

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Emerging Threats

Novel ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) variants are increasingly popular among cybercriminals, costing healthcare organisations hundreds of millions of dollars every year globally.

Moreover, AI-generated phishing communications trick unsuspecting healthcare professionals ever more frequently, with malicious content assets that are harder to discern from safe counterparts.

While AI and ML technologies provide opportunities to increase security, they are just as often weaponised against individuals and organisations.

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Innovations in Cybersecurity Technologies

Fortunately, just as innovations have improved patient record keeping for greater efficiency, the cybersecurity sector has kept pace with advancements of its own to protect patients against digital violations.

Low-code platforms like OutSystems and Mendix bring significant security advantages, offering robust encryption, access controls, and other protective measures. While these platforms reduce some risks, they do not fully insulate organisations from direct cyber-attacks. Organisations must still implement strong security practices alongside platform features.

Additionally, predictive analytics can assist in anticipating potential cyber-attacks by analysing data patterns and identifying emerging threats, but it should be integrated into a comprehensive security strategy rather than relied upon as a sole defense.

Powerful software can now identify and address suspicious behaviour in real-time and lock down defences pre-emptively to prevent attacks.

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Digital Health Transformation

As data becomes increasingly important to modern life, the healthcare sector in general is accelerating efforts to digitise many of its infrastructures.

This increases the accuracy and quantity of information, while ensuring rapid access, easy transferability and enhanced security.

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Healthcare cyber-attacks continue to menace the sector with ransomware, botnets and other data breaches.

Yet while advanced technologies like AI, ML, blockchain and analytics present opportunities for more effective measures, AI and ML are driving the proliferation of dangerous malware threats.

As always, prevention is the best cure. Firewalls, advanced encryption, continuous multi-factor authentication, network segmentation, and general security training are all vital components in your defensive arsenal.

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Ready to protect your organisation and all its stakeholders from damaging cybercrimes and costly non-compliance penalties?

Book an risk-free consultation with us and discover how we ensure that all software developed by us adhere to industry standards.