Cybersecurity in Healthcare: How to Protect Patient Data

The healthcare sector experienced the highest average data breach cost of any industry in 2022.

With Cybersecurity attacks on the rise across the U.S., the next potential threat an organization faces could be moments away. By the third quarter of 2022, average weekly attacks per business worldwide reached over 1,130. While that’s a staggering statistic, some businesses with valuable assets could see even higher numbers. For instance, the healthcare sector experienced the highest average data breach cost of any industry, hitting an all-time high of over $10 million per incident in 2022. The personal information of patients stored by healthcare providers is a treasure chest to cybercriminals, and they will try every entry point to access that sensitive data.

The time for healthcare industry leaders to take action is now. As we approach an age of complete digitization for the services and operations of organizations, the risk of health records falling into the hands of attackers is greater than ever before. And the reputation of the providers themselves, as well as potential penalties under HIPAA compliance standards, hangs in the balance. To ensure complete privacy of sensitive data, healthcare industry leaders must consider implementing the following cybersecurity measures.

Adopting a zero trust security approach

Zero trust is a cybersecurity framework that, when applied correctly, improves cyberthreat defense and minimizes the severity of ransomware attacks, reducing the time and cost of responding to a breach. For the healthcare industry, zero trust is the only foolproof way to prevent threats by securing networks from unauthorized access and reducing attack surface area. In addition, zero trust allows healthcare companies to know who is connected to the network at all times as every user must be known and verified. <Read More>

Michelle’s Take – The article provides more information for you to protect your practice.