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Healthcare organizations need effective cyber security measures.

No matter the size of your company, your data could be compromised at any time.  It is crucial for providers to protect and safeguard patient data from any threat.  It seems like almost every day, the media reports on a new cyber attack on a healthcare organization.  Yet, many physician practices still don’t safeguard patient data properly. Here are some steps that experts say can help practices protect patient information and their businesses from cyber security threats: 

Password Policy – A password policy can mitigate against cyber security attacks.  Strong passwords prohibit hackers on guessing log-in credentials.  Remember, passwords should be complex but functional.  If hackers attack your system and gain control, this can lead to ransomware and or patient data breaches.

Managed Equipment – Managing what machines, devices you buy and keep in your practice is a great strategy.  Machines have a significant number of vulnerabilities. Most are connected to the rest of your healthcare environment.  As you can see, unmanaged equipment is a big issue in healthcare organizations.  Buying equipment and forgetting about it is only putting your practice at risk.

Education – Education is an important cybersecurity measure.  First, you need to educate yourself.  After that, educate all employees of your practice.   Particularly for preventing email compromise.  If you don’t have the time to train your employees, consider hiring outside experts to do so.  Cyber criminals are often able to gain access to private systems due to employees negligence.  Therefore it’s essential for every business to educate employees about cyber security.

According to a May 2016 study from research firm Ponemon Institute, almost 90% of healthcare organizations experienced a data breach in the last two years.