The Office for Civil Rights sent out a cyber newsletter stating that throughout 2020-2021 hackers have targeted the health care industry and the number of breaches increased 45% from 2019 to 2020. The number of breaches due to hacking or IT incidents account for 66% of all breaches affecting over 500 patients records in 2020. Cyber-attacks are critical in health care since it can disrupt services to patients and destroy patient data.
Most cyber-attacks could have been prevented if covered entities and business associates had implemented the HIPAA Security Rule requirements. Technical safeguards are based on the organizations size, type of environment, and how data flows in and out of their systems. Keep in mind, phishing attacks and weak authentication protocols are the most common exploitations.
What can you do to prevent cyber-attacks?
While nothing is 100%, simple precautious can go a long way. Educating your staff should be a top priority. Tricking employees to click on links or to share vital information is the most common tactic. An unsuspecting employee is typically how an attack starts. There are more sophisticated methods that can exploit previously unknown vulnerabilities, but phishing is still the most common. Train your employees not to click on attachments unless they are expecting the communication and the sender has been verified. Also, do not click on links within emails. Best practices are to open your browser window and go to the website and log-in from there. If the employee suspects an email contains a virus or is suspicious, they should contact their IT department/vendor and verify. It is always better to be safe than sorry later!
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Friday, April 15, 2022
