Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • ESG: THE NEW IMPERATIVE
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • COVID-19
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Transformation
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Digital Health
  • Insights
    • ACA 10 Years After
    • Best Practices
    • Special Reports
    • Innovations
  • Data/Lists
    • Rankings/Lists
    • Interactive Databases
    • Data Points
  • Opinion
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Awards
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
    • Women in Healthcare
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
    • - Leaders to Watch
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Women Leaders
    • - Women to Watch
  • Events
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
    • Transformation Summit
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Strategic Marketing
    • - Virtual Health
  • Listen
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • MORE +
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Cybersecurity
Sponsored Content Provided By Prodigo
This content was created by and paid for by an advertiser. The Crain's editorial department was not involved in the creation of this content.
May 01, 2021 01:00 AM

Healthcare’s high-stakes, never-ending pursuit of cybersecurity

Five best practices for better data security

Dermot Pope, Vice President of Technology
Prodigo Solutions
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    person typing on laptop security image

    The pursuit of absolute cybersecurity is a never-ending, constantly evolving challenge, and few industries are more at risk than healthcare. 

    Over the past 10 years, the landscape of cybersecurity threats has changed dramatically. The attacks we are monitoring today no longer come from rebellious individuals looking to make statements in the hopes of disrupting our lives. Rather, they come from sophisticated actors hoping to take down entire companies or networks and to profit from it. 

    In 2020, at least 560 healthcare facilities were impacted by 80 separate cybersecurity attacks, according to Emisoft, and healthcare was ranked as the second most frequently targeted industry by multiple studies. All of this means it is more important than ever to adopt best practices and procedures designed to increase your organization’s ability to identify and block attack ransomware and other cybersecurity threats.

    How much security is enough security? That depends on your data assets, whether it is being transmitted and whether or not your organization is a high value target. Given the high value of healthcare data and its attractiveness to hacker groups, large hospitals and their software partners must take the necessary actions to guarantee its protection and ensure operational integrity.

    Conducting smart risk assessments and understanding how valuable an organization is as a target helps to determine the level of security that is necessary. Here are five best practices Prodigo Solutions recommends healthcare systems seek from its data service providers:

    Encryption and multi-factor authentication: Data encryption and multi-factor authentication are no longer optional. In healthcare, these are the baseline for an effective cyber security strategy. 

    Conduct weekly security scans: At least once a week, conduct a scan of your network to understand the types of attacks and the volume of attempts. Although not common practice, it’s important to understand your risk vectors so you can implement adequate protection.

    Consider Single Sign-On (SSO): SSO is an authentication method that allows users to access multiple domains and applications using a single set of login credentials. There are several mechanisms for SSO, including the use of smart cards and other industry security protocols. In simple terms, when a user signs in to an SSO service, the service creates encrypted authentication tokens for the user that creates a solid defense against several attack vectors such as phishing (a form of a man-in-the-middle attack). Prodigo, a FedRamp certified organization, is adept at integrating with several SSO backoffice infrastructures and has observed a rapid trend towards the adoption of SSO services across the healthcare industry.

    Conduct an annual failover exercise: Failover is the ability to switch automatically to a reliable backup system with the same security posture when a component or primary system fails due to a cyberattack or other disaster. A standby database, system, server, or other hardware components or networking must always stand ready to automatically switch into action. You must test your Disaster Recovery Plan to ensure that the backup system can handle all regular operations without any loss of data or added security risk. Ideally, this test should last several days. At Prodigo, we conduct this test for two weeks every year.

    Keep client data partitioned: We recommend that third-party providers partition data in private exchanges – not co-mingled or housed on a single exchange which represents a single point of failure. That way, if one environment is breached, it can quickly be isolated – minimizing the impact to other environments and mitigating the threat. 

    Cybersecurity threats constantly change and evolve. Regardless of an organization’s preparedness today, you can rest assured they will be inadequate at some point in the future. It is critical, to have partners in your supply chain with high-level expertise, who understand the changing landscape of security while remembering that your security risk level correlates directly to the weakest link in the chain.

    We recognize that all these recommendations require time and expertise and cost money – and that’s exactly the point. It is difficult to put a dollar value on all the steps that must be taken every day to keep healthcare data safe. These preventative investments pale in comparison to the actual costs of data loss, the risk to your reputation and the legal ramifications in cases where you did not do enough to protect your assets.
     

    About the Author:


    As a results-driven technical professional, Dermot Pope leads the Technology Group at Prodigo Solutions, Inc., bringing a unique combination of strong business acumen, leadership skills, and extensive hands-on experience in enterprise application development to his role.
     

    Sponsored By:


    prodigo solutions logo

    Prodigo Solutions is a healthcare technology company that improves providers’ financial control and reduces supply chain cost. Prodigo Solutions’ savings technology has been developed by healthcare supply chain experts to deliver tangible results across a continuum of care.

    Sponsored Content
    Health IT Strategist (HITS) Newsletter: Sign up for the latest IT and medical technology news delivered 3 days a week (M, W, F).
     
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • COVID-19
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Digital Health
    • Insights
      • ACA 10 Years After
      • Best Practices
      • Special Reports
      • Innovations
    • Data/Lists
      • Rankings/Lists
      • Interactive Databases
      • Data Points
    • Opinion
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Awards
      • Nominate/Eligibility
      • 100 Most Influential People
      • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
      • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
      • Excellence in Governance
      • Health Care Hall of Fame
      • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
      • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
      • Top 25 Innovators
      • Diversity in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
        • - Leaders to Watch
      • Women in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Women Leaders
        • - Women to Watch
    • Events
      • Conferences
        • Transformation Summit
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Leadership Symposium
      • Galas
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Strategic Marketing
        • - Virtual Health
      • Webinars
      • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
    • Listen
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • MORE +
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing