Medical Design Briefs - January 2022 - 12

Is Healthcare Ready
to Pick Up the Pace in
Cybersecurity?
C
12
Cov
ybersecurity in healthcare has
never had a higher profile
than right now. A string of IT
breaches
and ransomware
attacks on HIPAA-covered
entities and their business associates has
threatened patient care, led to substantial
financial losses, and brought unwanted
attention to healthcare organizations.
In July 2021 alone there were 70 reported
data breaches of 500 or more records,
making it the fifth consecutive month
where data breaches had been reported
at a rate of two or more per day.1
If that's not scary enough, there's this:
between August 2020 and the end of
July 2021, the private health data of
44,369,781 individuals was exposed or
compromised in more than 705 reported
data breaches (of 500 or more records).
For instance, Wisconsin provider Fore -
front Dermatology reported that hackers
gained access to parts of its network that
contained the protected health information
of 2.4 million individuals.
In a ransomware attack reported by
Practicefirst, a New York associate of multiple
HIPAA-covered entities, healthcare
data of 1.2 million individuals was potentially
stolen. Believe it or not, this attack
could have been even worse considering
that the majority of ransomware gangs
today exfiltrate sensitive data before
using ransomware to encrypt files, and
then force victims to pay twice: once to
prevent the publication or sale of the
stolen data, and again to obtain the keys
to decrypt files.
Swift Change Is Needed
In this environment, healthcare organizations
face very difficult choices in balancing
patient
protection
with
financial
demands.
Costs for insurance against cyber
risks have skyrocketed as attacks have escalated.
Organizations' effectiveness in counteracting
these threats affect their costs,
both in terms of actual incidents and in
terms of insurance costs, so new approaches
to cybersecurity are warranted.
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Historically, cybersecurity for medical
devices and medical networks has been
weak, and the healthcare industry in general
has been conservative in adopting
new technologies. But this approach is no
longer adequate. For this reason, the
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security
Agency has issued new guidance to help
combat this rise in " double extortion "
ransomware attacks, offering best practices
for preventing cyber threat actors
from gaining access to networks, detailing
measures to ensure sensitive data are
protected, and outlining procedures to
follow when responding to a ransomware
attack.2 Additionally, The National In -
stitute of Standards and Technology has
updated its cybersecurity guidance on
building resilient computer networks.3
End-to-End Cybersecurity
With the average cost of a healthcare
data breach around $7.1 million, it is
essential to protect critical assets.4 The
most effective way to counteract today's
Medical Design Briefs, January 2022
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Medical Design Briefs - January 2022

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