The healthcare sector involves a great deal of private, sensitive information about patients, including personal details, financial data and medical histories. Thus, the industry has become a target for cybercriminals who view the value of data in terms of sensitivity – the more sensitive, the more potential value.
Since healthcare has become increasingly digitised in recent years due to significant progress in technology and cloud-based software, the concern surrounding the safety of its data is becoming more and more relevant.
For obvious reasons, being able to ensure strong cybersecurity measures to protect patient information is incredibly important, and it reflects a commitment to maintain the integrity of the individuals whose data is involved.
All is not lost, however, because as cybercriminals are finding new ways to hack into medical data systems and exploit their weaknesses, cybersecurity experts are also catching up, developing new ways to combat criminal exploits and protect private information.
Common Types of Cybersecurity Threats in Healthcare
The best way to deal with these threats is to be aware of them, learn about how they work and find ways to prevent them. And, if prevention isn’t possible, ways to deal with them after the fact to mitigate the damage and prevent recurrence.
There are plenty of different types of cybersecurity attacks that occur across the board, but when it comes to healthcare, they’re implanted in specific ways and have ramifications that are unique to the industry.
Ransomware Attacks
Ransomware is one of the most common types of cybersecurity attacks and it involves the use of malicious software that is designed to encrypt the target’s data. In this context, it would be used to access and encrypt patient information, subsequently locking healthcare providers out of their own system.
The purpose of this is normally financial and the healthcare sector is targetted because its information is very sensitive. Thus, the criminals demand some kind of payment, often in the form of cryptocurrency, and in return, they promise to restore access to the system.
Other than the obvious threat to the leaking of sensitive information, ransomware attacks are particularly dangerous in the healthcare industry because they can stop hospitals and other types of practices from functioning properly and treating patients.
Without access to patient records, doctors may be preventing from treating patients, which can result in not only in the delay of minor treatments but surgeries and sometimes lifesaving treatments too. It may result in injury, harm or even fatalities.
Data Breaches
In healthcare, a data breach occurs when hackers target a specific organisation like a hospital or a doctors’ practice and steal sensitive information like insurance information, medical records, financial details and more.
Naturally, this info is very valuable on the black market, so the criminals then sell it to other criminals ad the victims may end up becoming targets of other attacks in the future, ranging from financial fraud to stolen identities.
Unfortunately, data breaches in healthcare tend to result in a loss of trust between patients and their healthcare providers, which is not only bad for the success of the industry but for the general process of treating patients too.
Phishing Attacks
Phishing attacks occur when scammers send out fraudulent emails to healthcare providers, whether it’s doctors or administrators, providing something like a malicious link or login credentials to a dodgy site. If these links are clicked on or the websites are visited, it can result in viruses and eventually, data breaches.
The best way to deal with phishing is to properly train your staff on what to look out for and how to avoid scam emails. In this case, prevention is better than cure.
Medical Device Hacking
Medical device hacking is one of the more advanced forms of cybersecurity hacks that requires a fair amount of skill and expertise.
Essentially, hackers target medical devices that run by means of advanced technology. They hack into the software and that can give them access to them remotely, allowing for them to be manipulated.
This is incredibly invasive and dangerous for obvious reasons, as it not only violates a patient’s privacy and sense of security and self, but it can have life-threatening consequences.
Sometimes, medical device hacking is used as a means to execute a ransom, and in other cases, it may be something more sinister.
Insider Threats
An insider threat is fairly self-explanatory – it’s when somebody from within the business, practice or whatever it is either intentionally or unintentionally compromises security. That may involve intentionally finding data and giving it away (or even selling it) to someone with nefarious intent. It may also mean simply giving an outsider their login credentials.
The less sinister alternative is that an employee may compromise security by mistake, by accidentally leaving data somewhere it may be viewed by unauthorised personnel or by not being careful about security with regard to login details.
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)
A DDos attack occurs when hackers intentionally flood the online platform, network or server of the healthcare practitioner with massive amounts of traffic that are completely abnormal. This tends to overwhelm the system causing it to crash.
In the case of healthcare, this can be incredibly problematic as it means that doctors won’t have access to patient information.
In hospitals, this means delayed access to electronic health records, telemedicine platforms and critical care systems, all of which are critical in saving lives.
Third-Party Vendor Attacks
In some cases, hacks that aim to get information from healthcare organisations do so by means of a backdoor, and in this case, that backdoor is a third-party vendor.
A third-party vendor is an organisation that provides a service like data storage or billing. Often, scammers target them in order to gain access to the healthcare provider’s data.
Why do they do this? It’s simple – often, third-party vendors’ security systems and protocols simply aren’t as robust as those of the healthcare organisation itself. Essentially, it’s an easier way to get in.
Risks Threatening Cloud Security
These days, more and more healthcare providers are making use of cloud-based storage, but attackers are not targeting cloud-based systems to access and steal patient information.
Since the data is stored in the cloud, it can be easier to infiltrate, and the healthcare providers themselves can’t exactly do much to stop it.
Dealing with Cybersecurity Threats in Healthcare
It’s pretty clear that the healthcare industry is one that holds a great deal of sensitive and private information, and for that reason, it’s imperative that it’s kept safe and secure.
With several different types of cybersecurity issues threatening to target these industries and organisations, the best thing to do is be proactive.
It’s all about learning about types of potential threats, figuring out where you may be vulnerable and training staff on how to identify suspicious activity, as well as what to do if something smells fishy. It may seem like a lot of work, but keeping patient data safe is well worth the time and money.
