The rise of technology in the healthcare industry, from the Internet of Medical Things to telehealth, has raised a significant issue that will need to be addressed in the coming years. This issue is that of cybersecurity.
Healthcare manufacturers have increasingly embraced digitization to help scale their production and drive innovation. While this means that products are available faster and to a wider range of people, it leaves the process open to attack. Furthermore, many healthcare organizations have embraced remote work since the start of the pandemic and telehealth seems to be a shift that will not soon change.
Both of these shifts put patient data at risk. Also, hackers are increasingly targeting internet-enabled medical devices to access confidential patient information, which is an important consideration bearing in mind how ubiquitous these products are becoming.
Some healthcare-based cyberattacks have made the headlines in recent years. For example, North Korea purportedly attacked AstraZeneca in the United Kingdom for data, and clinical trials conducted in the United States fell victim to a ransomware attack. Beyond these major headlines, hospitals across the country must deal with hackers who ask for millions of dollars to prevent disruptions in operations, as well as data compromises.
Given the sensitivity of healthcare information, these are serious attacks that cannot be taken lightly. Unfortunately, a lot of confusion still exists about the cybersecurity of healthcare, and efforts to keep data safe have not scaled at the same rate that technological advances have. This leaves the entire industry open to attack. Hackers are beginning to notice, and there are an increasing number of targets from within the healthcare sectors.
The Importance of Bolstering Cybersecurity in the Healthcare Industry
Last year, the healthcare sector was the seventh most targeted sector for cyberattacks and faced nearly 7 percent of attacks across the top 10 industries. This is an increase from prior years that has been driven by the amount of data now available through internet-connected medical devices.
To stop these attacks, it is important to think critically about the vulnerable points within the delivery of healthcare. Some of these vulnerable points include internal networks, both medical and personal devices that are connected to the internet, record storage, and data warehousing. All of these serve as entry points for cybercriminal and are easy targets. If the industry begins addressing these core vulnerabilities, they will send a message to hackers that the industry is beefing up security.
One of the areas that needs to be prioritized is the Internet of Medical Things. Medical devices must have healthcare information stored to be effective and clinicians need to be able to access this information easily. However, this leaves the data vulnerable to attack without the proper security.
Professionals in cybersecurity and information technology (IT) need to prioritize the protection of this information and figure out key systems for preventing unauthorized access. This protection needs to occur at every stage of production, including manufacturing.
For this reason, many industry professionals have called for manufacturers to get more involved in cybersecurity from the very beginning, even in terms of protecting supply chains to guarantee that no harmful software finds its way onto the products. Cybersecurity threats can come even from materials sourced for production.
The Path toward Creating a More Secure Healthcare Industry
Moving forward, it makes sense to create a supply-chain risk management plan that identifies risks and vulnerabilities throughout the manufacturing cycle. Having this catalogue allows a strategic approach to dealing with these vulnerabilities and ensuring that additional layers of security are implemented when they are necessary.
Over time, priorities may change, so it is also important to understand that this list is dynamic. Starting from the very beginning could have downstream effects in terms of protecting patient data. With demands for healthcare devices increasing constantly, it is important to begin this process soon. Preventing attacks in the first place is much easier than dealing with a major security breach, which could adversely affect the health of many people and otherwise compromise very sensitive information.
Addressing cybersecurity risk in the healthcare sector will involve a lot of collaboration. Because of this, it is essential that data on cybersecurity threats be updated and made easily available for everyone from IT professionals to senior executives. After all, senior executives are frequently the target of email-based attacks, such as phishing, and need to be able to recognize the signs of such threats to keep their organizations protected.
Healthcare organizations and equipment manufacturers will need to be more diligent about training their employees on cybersecurity in a comprehensive manner. While this will involve a significant investment of resources, it is one of the important investments that these organizations can make, especially since the pandemic has increased remote monitoring and treatment.
Robust cybersecurity strategy needs to be a priority moving forward, as achieving this means more time to focus on patient outcomes and new technologies.