Healthcare organizations rely on new-age technologies and advanced innovations to enhance diagnosis. However, healthcare cybersecurity issues are growing with the innovations and higher reliance on technologies. 

Patients’ data and personally identifiable information are especially at risk. In 2023, approximately 373,788 patient records were breached across healthcare organizations. This means healthcare cybersecurity requires advanced measures to keep patient data secure. 

One way is to ensure that healthcare organizations have proper website encryption. Data encryption for healthcare cybersecurity can ensure that patients’ sensitive information and diagnoses are secure against cyberattacks. 

However, it is not a one-size-fits-all solution, and you need security best practices to ensure patient data is safe. This article focuses on top healthcare cybersecurity best practices that you can follow to improve the security of patient data.

1. Ensure password security

The healthcare industry uses technological devices for almost all aspects, from patient data storage to automated surgeries. Ensuring security for patient data and other sensitive information can be complex. 

However, following simple best practices can make improving healthcare cybersecurity easier. 

Yes, it’s passwords!

Password leakages are one significant contributor to cyberattacks. The best way to avoid such cyberattacks is to use an alphanumeric password with memorable characters and capitalization of the alphabet. 

Using a password manager is another way to ensure your healthcare organization’s passwords stay secure. 

2. Use multi-factor authentications

If your passwords are strong, yet there are data breaches, one possible reason is unauthorized access. Multi-factor authentication can overcome the challenges of unauthorized data access. 

It allows healthcare industries to ensure sensitive information is accessible only to the person with permission. 

Take the example of a hospital with a massive staff and many contracted healthcare professionals. Patient data must be accessible only to a few professionals associated with specific services, except for doctors. 

So, multi-factor authentication can determine whether an intended person is given access. Hospitals can leverage a two-factor authentication process where every person asking for patient data access is first verified through two layers of verification. 

The initial verification step is the email ID and password, which are sent to their device with an extra layer of passcode or text. 

Healthcare service providers can also use multi-factor authentication mechanisms, where the second layer of authentication is executed through biometric verifications. 

Multi-factor authentication ensures data regulation compliance with standards like HIPAA and GDPR.

3. Ensure IoT security

Healthcare service providers often use a network of connected devices, several remotely accessible to professionals. Ensuring that all the connected devices are secure becomes a challenge, especially with the availability of remote access. 

Many devices in this network constantly sync patient data like vitals, blood pressure, and other details.

Proper security measures should be taken to ensure the security of connected devices; cybersecurity attacks can occur. One way to ensure the protection of IoT devices and other remotely accessible wearables is to use a single sign-on mechanism. 

It is a federated identity management system that uses Open Authorization (OAuth) as a framework to enable tokenized sign-in and data access.

4. Make sure the network is secure

More than securing the devices that act as endpoints in the network of connected devices is required. It would be best to protect the entire network. You must protect the system from internal and external threats to the network. 

For example, if you have remote lab centers for your healthcare services that sync each patient’s data, you must ensure all the devices in that remote network are secure. One approach is to use SSL certificates. 

Securing your network security with an SSL certificate can help ensure secure data exchange between devices. These digital certificates apply cryptographic algorithms to scramble data into an unreadable format for cyber attackers. Another crucial aspect of ensuring a secure healthcare system is managing open source software vulnerabilities effectively. Given the multitude of applications involved, keeping track of potential security risks can be overwhelming. Implementing OSS security management tools can greatly enhance vulnerability detection and streamline remediation efforts, providing a proactive layer of security that is vital in safeguarding patients’ personal data

Another approach to healthcare cybersecurity is implementing firewalls and software patch management processes. You must employ a three-phase process to achieve such security for your healthcare business.

• Phase 1: Make sure you deploy a firewall to filter all the external traffic coming into the network.
• Phase 2: Create data access policies specific to network security.
• Phase 3: Train your employees to ensure they are in sync with the security policies. 

5. Encrypt patient data

Encryption is a significant approach most healthcare service providers can use to improve cybersecurity. Patient data security becomes challenging for healthcare businesses because the information can be unstructured. However, you can secure such data through SSL certificates. 

But why using data encryption for healthcare cybersecurity makes sense?

Data encryption allows healthcare businesses to secure the information exchange between patients and doctors. Take a telemedicine service, for example, where patients can connect virtually with doctors on their devices.  

Encryptions can secure the connection between devices and ensure that cyberattacks do not affect data transmission. Getting an SSL certificate is easy and convenient with online services like cheapsslshop. The process begins by submitting a certification request to the respective authority.

You can buy essential SSL certificates offering fast validation and high security. The Certificate Authorities verify your details mentioned in the certificate signing request or CSR. After thorough verification, it issues an SSL certificate you can install on your healthcare platforms.

6. Have your backups ready!

Using all the above healthcare cybersecurity strategies can help you somewhat avoid any incident, but nothing is 100% foolproof. So, your healthcare system’s backup must be ready for any incident. 

Backups can reduce your system’s mean time to recovery (MTTR) and ensure no disruptions due to data breaches. Multiple backups are recommended for more sensitive data, such as patient data, because patient data loss can impact diagnosis and further treatment. 

7. Audit your system well.

No app code is perfect, and if you think your healthcare apps are fully secure, that’s a myth! The best way to avoid any healthcare cybersecurity threat is to have regular audits. It helps you gauge the security measures and effectiveness of policies applied for data access control. For a comprehensive understanding of emerging vulnerabilities, staying informed through industry insights is key. Intruder’s Intel provides valuable context on how to navigate and anticipate potential threats and vulnerability trends in the cybersecurity landscape.

Security audits provide benefits like, 

• It helps identify potential vulnerabilities in healthcare systems, apps, and networks.
• Ensures better compliance with regulations like HIPAA and PCI-DSS.
• Reduces cost of data breaches through addressed critical vulnerabilities.
• Allows healthcare businesses to detect misconfigurations.
• Enables healthcare services providers to minimize security risks.
• Security audits help healthcare businesses build trust among patients.

8. Make annual risk assessments 

Cyber threats constantly evolve, posing new challenges for healthcare services. Coping with such cybersecurity challenges requires strategic policy execution. For example, you can build a framework for annual risk assessments within your healthcare system. 

This will help you understand key risks and plan strategies to overcome them. Risk assessments allow organizations to identify critical threats and prepare healthcare systems for such attacks. 

For example, if your healthcare applications are shifting to the cloud, you need strategic risk assessment for pre-migration and post-migration. It helps you understand the risks of migrating to the cloud and create strategies to ensure no data loss.

Conclusion 

Whether you employ data encryption for healthcare cybersecurity or leverage multi-factor authentication, dynamic cyber threats need adaptive security measures. By applying the above best practices, you can ensure patient data is secure and comply with critical data regulations. 

This becomes crucial not only for compliance but also for improving the patient’s trust. All the practices discussed above may not be suitable for your healthcare system. So, it’s essential to compare each and choose the one your healthcare business needs.