Telehealth, remote patient monitoring tools, wearable technology, and other digital technologies allow excellent treatment, but they also bring the potential of IoT security problems. According to a white paper from Medigate and CrowdStrike, more than 80% of healthcare businesses have experienced IoT security incidents in the last 18 months.
As the use of connected health grows, healthcare institutions will be challenged to ensure that technology advancements are examined from cybersecurity and therapeutic standpoint. The white paper noted that although IoT devices can transform patient care, they also create a larger attack surface for unscrupulous actors. Bad actors already target healthcare institutions disproportionately.
While dark web pricing varies, the white paper noted that a stolen health care record is often worth 50 times more than a stolen credit card. Not only is personal health information (PHI) more valuable, but there are also new methods to profit from it, such as ransoms, forged drug prescriptions, and false medical treatment claims.
According to researchers, medical equipment expenditure is expected to grow at a CAGR of 29.5 percent through 2028. Cyberattacks against IoT devices, on the other hand, are on the rise, indicating the necessity to invest in security measures for such IoT devices at the same rate.
Endpoint detection and response (EDR), coordinated visibility, network segmentation, and effective insurance coverage are among the protection techniques proposed in the white paper. EDR enables businesses to keep a constant eye on risks from all sides. Researchers pointed out that EDR is a core capacity, especially when care delivery fragments. Connected health necessitates security policies that adapt to care delivery, not the other way around, regardless of where it occurs. Instead of restricting, security should facilitate.
According to the study, healthcare institutions cannot afford to accept the compromises characteristic of weaker or/and older solutions, as technology continues to widen the attack surface and scope for ransomware perpetrators. The state-of-the-art is the bare minimum.
Organizations should establish an attack containment approach that reduces possible recovery costs while minimizing harm. In addition, the study suggested that healthcare firms look into cyber insurance as a way to further reduce risk. Researchers concluded that security and asset management techniques must converge to grow the delivery of connected health properly.
It’s the only way that the individual contributions of some healthcare workers and systems may add up to more than the sum of their parts and functions. Not only must a single reference base be established to upgrade current infrastructure where possible, but it must also be established to assure the performance of future investments in layered capabilities.
