Contributed Collaborative Post
Healthcare businesses pose a unique number of cybersecurity risks. Some are clear for everyone to see; if you run a business that relies on keeping and storing medical records, then you’ll obviously have big cyber risks related to data protection. There will also be the common cybersecurity concerns that all businesses face:
- Poor passwords
- Phishing scams
- Out of date software
- And so on
These are all big problems that you should face head-on when managing a healthcare business, but what about the hidden cybersecurity risks most business owners aren’t aware of? For healthcare companies, these hidden threats tend to center around two specific aspects of the business.
Medical Equipment
No matter what type of healthcare business you operate, you will always use some type of medical equipment. Obvious examples include x-ray machines, ultrasound machines, CT scanners, and general vitals monitors. These things are now connected to the internet, which means they also act as potential entry points for a cybercriminal.
Your regular cybersecurity preventative measures won’t work with these devices; you’ll need proper MedTech cybersecurity to protect these uniquely positioned devices. It’s all about tightening up the network security surrounding your medical equipment and ensuring you’re not leaving any gateways open for hackers and outside threats.
Any device that connects to the internet is a potential cybersecurity risk. Unfortunately, connected devices are more and more prevalent in healthcare settings as we operate in the Internet of Things age. Even simple things like refrigeration equipment for test samples may now have a network connection.
As you can imagine, devices like these often get forgotten about because they aren’t traditionally viewed as cybersecurity risks. You spent too much attention on your computer systems and data protection, but the biggest risks are left untouched. It is so easy for someone with knowledge of hacking to enter your healthcare business’s system through an unprotected medical device. Once there, they basically have access to everything else, and your defensive measures in other areas are pointless.
Access Control Systems
Access control systems are also very common in healthcare businesses. When you run a business like this, you normally have sensitive information stored in different parts of your facility. Similarly, you will have potentially dangerous and expensive equipment in certain areas that only specific employees need access to.
For example, a private hospital will have access control systems determining who can enter general office areas. There will also be access control to stop unwanted visitors from bursting into surgery rooms, and so on.
It’s actually a very good way to improve security in your business, yet access control systems are also connected in one way or another. They could be connected to your network or a cloud-based system, but this makes them a cybersecurity risk. Hackers can detect these access control systems and use them in two ways:
- As an entry point into your wider network
- To disrupt your business
We’ve already discussed that medical devices provide possible entry points, and the same goes for access control systems. In that vein, the risks are pretty similar. However, if a hacker hacks into your access control systems, they can take control of them and use this to their advantage. It may sound elaborate, but criminals can hack into these systems and then open doors remotely. This would mean they can theoretically walk straight through your restricted areas and gain access to expensive equipment or sensitive data.
Moreover, hackers may disrupt your access control systems by bringing them offline. They then place a ransom on your systems and will only release control if you pay it. This is a new type of ransomware attack that many cybercriminals are getting good at.
In any case, you need to be careful when setting up access control systems and ensure you purchase them from vendors with great cybersecurity practices in place. You need these systems to be secure, or they could be your business’s undoing.
Conclusion – Take Cybersecurity Seriously
If you want to think about things your business can’t succeed without, then great cybersecurity is right up there. Failing to protect your business from all of the big cyber threats means you always run the risk of getting hacked or losing money/data. As we’ve mentioned, a lot of the threats are obvious for healthcare businesses, though this post should shine a bright light on a couple of hidden concerns.
The best way to view things is like this: if your healthcare business uses anything that connects to a network, it could be a possible cybersecurity risk. Focus on tightening up these problem areas to make your company safe.
This is a contributed collaborative post
