How to Safeguard your Hospital from Cyberattack
By Shomiron Dasgupta
A hospital is a storehouse of ginormous amount of sensitive data, making it prone to cybercrime.
Just before the pandemic progression began in February 2020, two reputed hospitals in Mumbai fell prey to a cyberattack where nearly one million medical files and 107 million medical images of X-rays images and scans of Indian patients were freely floating on the internet. The leaked records contained information of patient name, date of birth, ailment, doctor names, and other sensitive details.
There are many more such cyberattack incidents on healthcare institutions that go unreported. Cyberattacks on medical institutions have not been new, but with the outbreak of the Coronavirus, the industry is witnessing a spurt of attacks. With a death toll of more than 28 thousand and over 11 lakh infections from Coronavirus, India is one of the worst-hit in this pandemic. The spread of this deadly contagion has increased the panic and dependence on the healthcare sector. However, humanity has reached new lows where the cybercriminals are capitalizing this entire emotion of fear, anxiety, and helplessness to extract money.
Why is healthcare a weak spot for cyberattacks?
Electrical Health Records (EHR) have vast amounts of data for disposal where the value of stolen medical health data in the black market is said to be more valuable than the data siphoned off from banks. The data sold in the black market consists of sensitive information such as date of birth, names, billing and payment information, past medical history, etc which is sufficient for attackers to build an entire human persona to buy medical equipment or act as drug dealers or might claim medical insurance.
Medical institutions aren’t fully aware of the possibilities of their sophisticated medical devices being cyber attacked and also lack the in-house resources to effectively implement, monitor, and manage the security infrastructure. Financial institutions spend 15-20% of their budget on data and IT security whereas a hospital might spend only 5% or even lesser.
The absence of a data security (CISO) body gives no visibility of the abnormalities occurring, resulting in a long time to identify the breach in medical records. This gives hackers to remain active and cause more damage.
Consequences of the cyberattacks in the Healthcare sector
The consequences of the cyberattacks can be as catastrophic as the death of a patient. The interconnected Internet of Things (IoT) devices used in the medical sector example – robotic surgical equipment, ventilators, etc. are also vulnerable to cyberattacks. These advanced medical devices are connected to the main computer to generate reports of the diagnosis and tests. Each connection to the computer opens new avenues for the hackers to access your computer and make alterations in the Electronic Health Records such as – changing patient appointment time, name, and drug doses, risking patients’ lives.
Since medical devices do not have built-in security systems, hacking of said devices has dangerous consequences like displaying faulty results that will lead to wrong treatments jeopardizing a patient’s life.
Healthcare organizations that handle huge volumes of patient data store their data in the cloud. Cloud computing lowers data storage costs, but without encryption, it poses a risk for attack.
With more emphasis on maintaining social distance, hospitals and startups are coming up with online healthcare platforms. The past three months have seen a rise of 500% in Indians seeking online health consultations. The physicians are providing remote health care using their computers. Their home computers with outdated software hold a high risk of getting attacked by malicious emails and messages which flash ‘Your account is locked. Please click here to restore access’. This might cause a speedy response if the recipient thinks that a disabled account will allow him to access the patient data, and there is the trap. Using new tools and technology makes people less aware of warning signs.
Minimizing security risks in healthcare
Below are some ways by which medical data can be safeguarded –
1. Using a zero-trust approach
It is a security concept where the organizations do not trust the outside or inside perimeters, verifying everything while trying to connect to systems before granting access.
2. Network Rings
Network rings are configuration in which device connections travel a circular path, where packets of data travel from one device to another until they reach their intended destination which limits the damage caused by hackers attempting to infiltrate a network, as they will be trapped within the ring.
3. Using Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)solutions
SIEM is a log management system that collects information of activities and detects abnormalities generated from emails, network logins, and endpoint logins. The system can also integrate with all types of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) applications that allow more insights into low-level transactional details.
4. Virtual Private Network (VPN)
A VPN is a tool that provides a pathway that makes your communication and other online activities secured. A VPN configuration ensures that the privacy of data and interactions exchanged over the web are secured.
5. Awareness amongst employees
Cybersecurity training and workshops should be conducted amongst doctors and other employees to educate them about ignoring emails and messages having sensational subject lines. Mails asking to download some advisory or receipt should be avoided for download.
Unfortunately, cybercriminals are taking advantage of this global pandemic to target healthcare institutions while they are at the forefront to battle this pandemic. As COVID -19 continues its conquest of infection, it is high time that hospitals and healthcare apps consider cybersecurity on a higher priority than it has been in the past.
Author:
Shomiron Dasgupta, CEO, DNIF