The current healthcare system is patient-forward with the most critical needs at the forefront. While it makes sense in the short term, insufficient cybersecurity disrupts business and puts patients and staff at risk.

Identifying that cyber safety is not separate from day-to-day responsibilities and does extensively impact hospitals is the beginning of an equipped cybersecurity plan.

What’s at Risk When Cyberattacks Hit Hospitals?

Cyberattackers take advantage of electronic health records, centralized command centers, and the use of digital systems to upload information. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ensures there is no unauthorized patient disclosure of any protected Health Information (PHI).

• Patient safety
• Medical records
• Lifesaving medical devices
• Private patient data – can be stolen or corrupted
• Health outcomes

What is the Price of Stolen Healthcare?

Stolen medical records from phishing attacks in the U.S. can be $10 to $1,000. These attacks continue to increase, “with substantial financial cost.” Risks to stolen, damaged, breached, or exploited healthcare data are extremely hurtful.

Regarding the “failure to proactively invest in cybersecurity, healthcare organizations hit with cyberattacks have paid steep costs to mitigate the threat.” In fact, healthcare spent the highest average cost for a data breach, going on eleven years. The costs went up 29.5% from $7.13 million in 2020 to $9.23 million in 2021.

How Do Hospitals Handle Cybersecurity?

• 47% of respondents say the budget
• 43% is the staff compliance with policies and procedures
• 39% is legacy technology
• 34% is patch and vulnerability management

Healthcare deals with staffing shortages, low budgets, and other restrictions, often undervaluing cybersecurity.

What Do Hospitals Need to Do to Strengthen Cybersecurity?

Public healthcare provided through the government can receive cybersecurity support through federal administration. AHA suggests “instill[ing] a patient safety-focused culture of cybersecurity.” When done properly, healthcare organizations can merge and “leverage their existing culture of patient care to impart a complementary culture of cybersecurity.”

Security is central to software design at Macrium. Our applications give you complete control over where your data is stored and will operate fully offline for the most secure, air-tight networks.

To learn more about healthcare and cybersecurity risks and how you can utilize Macrium to prevent data loss and ensure effective backups check out Macrium’s blog.