What are the challenges facing the health sector regarding patient data security?
Protecting your patient data is increasingly complex with threats of cyber-attacks and data breaches coming from both inside and outside your practice.
CS Identity, a data breach remediation company, compiled a list of the five industries that cybercriminals targeted most often, and health care tops the list:
The cost of breaches is substantial. A study conducted by IBM and the Ponemon Institute found the average cost per record breached is roughly US$158 ($AUD238) — but in the health care sector, this can run up to as high as $355 ($AUD519) per record.
In February, The Age revealed that a cybercrime syndicate hacked and scrambled the medical files of about 15,000 patients of a specialist cardiology unit at Cabrini Hospital and demanded a ransom to unscramble the files.
A subsequent Victorian Auditor-General report warned there were serious weaknesses in the cybersecurity of some of Victoria's health databases.
Yet six months later, computer networks in seven Victorian regional hospitals suffered a widespread ransomware attack that shut booking systems, delayed surgeries and sparked fears over patient information security.
Staff were forced to revert to manual bookings and records.
Transitioning to digital
Low awareness of data security
Data breaches are not always intentional. In fact, human error is the most common problem for health care organisations:
Cyber-attacks
Employee data theft or data leak
Health care organisations must take a proactive approach to data security.
Don’t try to go it alone. Seek solutions that can help automate as many tasks as possible so you and your team can focus on your patients.
A good starting point is to consult the ASD Essential Eight Maturity Model, which outlines fundamental security practices such as regular patching to minimise cyber risk.
In the document management and printing space, Canon has partnered with McAfee to boost data security. We now bundle McAfee Embedded Control with the entire family of imageRUNNER ADVANCE Gen III Series III multifunction devices. This secure solution provides signatureless protection against zero-day and advanced persistent threat attacks. It uses intelligent whitelisting to block execution of unauthorised applications.
Contact Canon to find out how we can help secure your information.
Despised but inescapable, work meetings need not be as unproductive and frustrating as you may be used to…
If the email deluge has clogged up your inbox, we have some good news for you. You can achieve "Inbox Zero".
Productivity improvements typically come from behavioural changes – but there’s no harm in getting a little help from Silicon Valley
While email has become an everyday part of our work-life, you still might be doing it wrong.
If you’ve recently started working from home, you’re probably on a lot of video calls. You might also be wondering why video conferencing is so exhausting.
An hour of awkward discomfort or a career-shaping moment? The choice is largely up to you…
As some companies strive for a paperless office, there are compelling reasons why the following theories are debatable.
Almost everyone uses some kind of mobile or wearable device today, but how secure are they for use by GPs?
Whether you’re using Zoom Meetings or another program, these tips will help you look and feel ready for business.
Email isn’t going anywhere, but there may be better ways to communicate and collaborate with your colleagues
How to overcome the convergence of platforms and devices and build a wall between work-you and home-you.