The Largest Ransomware Attack in History Has Crippled a Major Hospital System. Here Is How to Protect Your Healthcare Facility So It Won’t Be Next.

If you work in IT or healthcare, you have likely heard about the crippling cyberattack on Universal Health Services. The devastating attack has taken down their network with some individual PCs even shutting off on their own. Without access to patient records or medication systems, many hospitals have had to resort to pen and paper for charts and medication labeling. This puts a tremendous strain on resources and could delay patients receiving critical care in some cases. While no systems are bulletproof, there are some things you can do to help protect your facility from being next.

Educate Your Staff

One of the best ways to prevent malware or ransomware attacks is to properly education your staff on IT security basics and protocols. Most attacks start by attempting to gain entry through an internal employee. This might be in the form of an email attachment or a phishing link. Either way, your staff should be trained well enough to spot an obvious scam, and they should know when to report suspicious activity to your IT team. A good place to start is 3nom’s free Security Awareness Training. 

Your employees act as the first line of defense in preventing cyberattacks, and a staff who knows what to look for can often prevent most intrusions. Of course, the healthcare environment is often fast-paced with your employees juggling multiple tasks; attention may waver and it’s nobody’s fault. Which is why it would be wise to leverage technology to further mitigate human errors.  

Diversify Your Defenses

Cyber criminals are crafty, and they are constantly changing the way they do things to stay one step ahead of your defenses. They count on the fact that you have a single piece of software monitoring and preventing attacks. Do not let them win that easily! No single piece of software available today can provide all the protection you need from cyberattacks. 

From antivirus scanning to intrusion detection to real-time monitoring, your network needs a suite of products to stay fully protected. In the event they do gain entry, that intrusion can be quickly contained and remediated with the proper tools in place. Gone are the days of simply installing antivirus software and forgetting about it. You must stay proactive and up to date with the latest and greatest in cybersecurity tools to keep your facility protected. Diversifying your defenses can help make it more difficult for hackers to get inside your network. Keep in mind that some of the best AI-enabled security software is only available through an enterprise IT provider and cannot be purchased commercially. 

Know When to Ask for Help

If your healthcare facility does not have a team of cybersecurity experts on staff, then do not be afraid to ask for help. There are plenty of security services available who can work with you to protect your network and data. These experts can assess your current network and architecture and determine what is needed to keep things as safe as possible. Not only can they help you get things set up, but they can also provide 24/7 monitoring as well as intrusion response services when necessary, and quickly restore your system to a pre-infected state through quality backups. You might also be surprised at how affordable these services can be, especially considering the alternative of hiring your own staff or even worse – being subject to a security breach! If you already have a managed services provider, they would be a great place to start your security discussion.

Stay One Step Ahead

If you think you can just put a system in place and no longer worry about network security, think again! Once you put the proper systems in place, you must make sure that your software stays updated with the latest patches and that you stay updated on the latest industry trends. Security software developers are keeping pace with the fast-moving cybercrime industry, so having a partner keeping a close eye on the latest developments in both is a huge asset. Cybersecurity is an ever-evolving field, so making sure that you keep yourself educated is a great way to help prevent attacks at your facility. With the right education, software, and partners, your facility is much less likely to follow the unfortunate example of the UHS. Contact 3nom, the leading managed service provider in NY, NJ, and FL, to protect your organization and clients.