Is Your Healthcare Organization Prepared for the Cyberstorm?

Digital transformation in healthcare continues to accelerate, with technologies like telehealth,

mHealth apps, IoMT devices, and electronic records creating immense opportunities to improve
care. However, rapid change also multiplies vulnerabilities, opening the door to potentially
crippling cyberattacks.
Recent surveys reveal a widening cybersecurity readiness gap in healthcare:
 Nearly 93% of healthcare organizations experienced a data breach in the past three years.
80+ Healthcare Data Breach Statistics 2024 (getastra.com)

 However, a report from HealthIT Security suggests that healthcare's overall security
budget growth was relatively low, at just 8.1 percent of the IT spend. Security Budget
Growth Plateaus in Healthcare (healthitsecurity.com)

 The general sentiment from the sources suggests that healthcare organizations are still
playing catch-up regarding cybersecurity preparedness.

This gap highlights the need for what NOFTEK calls "cybersecurity leadership" in our recent
white paper, "The Cybersecurity Compass: Securing Healthcare's Digital Transformation."
With patient safety and data protection at stake, NOFTEK urges healthcare executives to take a
strategic, organization-wide approach to cybersecurity by:

Conducting comprehensive risk assessments

Conducting comprehensive cyber risk assessments for healthcare involves several key steps.
These steps include:

1. **Adopting Precise Cybersecurity KPIs**: This involves developing and implementing

specific cybersecurity Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure security measures'
effectiveness and alignment with productivity goals.

2. **Monitoring Effectiveness Metrics**: Implementing KPIs such as Intrusion Detection

Rates, System Availability Time, Response Time to Breaches, Patient Data Access Time,
Compliance Rate, and Employee Training Completion to assess cybersecurity effectiveness
quantitatively.

3. **Investing in Core Capabilities**: Emphasizing the importance of investing in

cybersecurity as a foundational pillar of strategic business priorities, including secure healthcare
innovation and developing resilient systems.
4. **Managing Third-Party Vendor Risk**: Implementing rigorous oversight of third-party
vendors, including conducting regular security assessments, ensuring compliance with industry
regulations, and establishing clear data breach response protocols.

5. **Becoming Risk Aware and Risk Intelligent**: Cultivating a culture of risk awareness and
intelligence by analyzing current cybersecurity practices, implementing continuous monitoring
systems, conducting training drills, and establishing clear communication protocols for
responding to cybersecurity incidents.

These steps are essential for healthcare organizations to assess, enhance, and maintain robust
cybersecurity measures to protect patient data and ensure uninterrupted healthcare services.

Hardening infrastructure through technologies like encryptions, NDR, and DLP

Hardening infrastructure through technologies like encryptions, Network Detection and
Response (NDR), and Data Loss Prevention (DLP) involves the following key points:

1. **Network Detection and Response (NDR) Systems**: NDR systems provide a

technologically sophisticated shield, actively analyzing network traffic to detect and investigate
suspicious patterns, responding rapidly to incidents, and reducing false positives. They create a
dynamic and responsive security posture essential in the ever-evolving digital healthcare
environment.

2. **Convergence of DLP and NDR**: The convergence of DLP and NDR forms a layered
security strategy crucial for thwarting data breaches and maintaining high standards of patient
data privacy.

3. **Data Encryption**: Implementing data encryption to protect patient data integrity and
confidentiality, maintain patient privacy, and reduce data breach risk.

These points highlight the importance of leveraging advanced technologies such as NDR, DLP,
and encryption to strengthen the cybersecurity posture of healthcare infrastructure.

Establishing core response capabilities and business continuity plans

Establishing core response capabilities and business continuity plans in the context of healthcare
cybersecurity involves several key steps and considerations:

1. **Operational Focus Area Impact on Cybersecurity**:

- Strengthening service delivery models through regular security assessments and streamlined
patient experience with integrated digital solutions.
 - Securing data management through encryption and access controls and improving decision-
making via data-driven insights.
- Protecting telehealth services with robust authentication procedures, expanding reach, and
customized care coordination.

2. **Strategic Alignment of Security to Organizational Goals**:

- Integrating streamlined protocols to improve healthcare, benefiting patient care and
organizational productivity.
- Analyzing and redefining workflow processes to minimize redundancies and incorporating
cybersecurity measures within the initial stages of technology implementation.

3. **Risk Impacts on Patient Care & Operations**:

- Acknowledging the potential risks of cyber incidents on patient care and operational
efficiencies.
- Ensuring uninterrupted, safe, and reliable patient care by evaluating the effectiveness of
deployed cybersecurity solutions to inform future improvements.

4. **Cybersecurity Initiative Objective Impact on Patient Care**:

- Enhancing patient care and operational benefits through data encryption, regular security
audits, employee cybersecurity training, and multi-factor authentication.

5. **Constructing Strategic Security Roadmaps**:

- Pursuing modernization in healthcare by constructing strategic security roadmaps as
blueprints for navigating complex digital landscapes, embracing foresight, and thorough
planning for digital security.

These steps and considerations are essential for healthcare organizations to establish robust
response capabilities and ensure business continuity in the face of cybersecurity challenges.

Fostering an acute risk awareness culture with training and Accountability

Fostering an acute risk awareness culture with training and Accountability in healthcare
cybersecurity, as outlined in the provided text, involves the following key points:

1. **Nurturing a Risk-Intelligent Culture**: This involves ongoing support and training that
evolves with the cybersecurity landscape, elevating vigilance and personal responsibility when
handling patient data and engaging with healthcare systems.

2. **Cultivating Accountability**: Fostering a workplace where staff at all levels comprehend

the ramifications of cybersecurity threats, bridging the gap between knowledge and action, and
ensuring everyone respects and upholds the organization's commitment to security and patient
privacy.

3. **Key Components of an Effective Cybersecurity Culture**:

- **Education**: Providing continuous learning opportunities on cybersecurity best practices
to enhance knowledge and readiness to counteract cyber threats.
- **Engagement**: Encouraging regular interactions that promote secure behaviors to
strengthen the adoption of cybersecurity measures.
- **Empowerment**: Allowing individuals to take action on cybersecurity insights to build
confidence and responsibility in security-related decisions.
- **Enforcement**: Establishing clear policies and consequences for non-compliance to
ensure cybersecurity norms and standards adherence.

4. **Managing Third-Party Vendor Risk**: Implementing rigorous oversight of third-party

vendors, including conducting regular security assessments, ensuring compliance with industry
regulations, and establishing clear data breach response protocols.

These points emphasize the importance of fostering a culture of risk awareness, Accountability,
and continuous learning to strengthen cybersecurity in healthcare organizations.

Conclusion

These best practices uphold robust protection while supporting the safe adoption of new care
delivery models that rely on connectivity and data integration.
As healthcare's attack surface continues expanding, NOFTEK is the cybersecurity compass
guiding organizations toward an innovative, productive, and resilient future. Learn more about
the NOFTEK Healthcare Cybersecurity Platform.