The last couple of years has brought revolutionary advancements in the healthcare sector, mainly around adopting cloud services and IoT devices. As much as this new landscape made room for global improvement of healthcare services, there are certain risks involved in this scenario, especially on the security front.
The growing demand for combining healthcare and cloud services has incentivized hackers to target healthcare businesses and institutions. According to a detailed report published by Allied Market Research, the global healthcare cyber security market is expected to reach $57.25 billion by 2030, showing how important cyber security is going to become in this field.
Security Risks in Healthcare
The rise in cyber-attacks is responsible for the quick growth of demand for a healthcare cyber security market. If you look at things from a cyber criminal’s perspective, it makes sense to target healthcare businesses and operatives.
After all, IoT medical equipment and software carry plenty of sensitive data, from basic patient info to confidential files not to be shared with the public.
A setting like this leaves plenty of room for hackers to play the field. They can either steal data such as financial info and exploit it however they wish or choose to sell batched data on the black market, which leads to equal if not even worse consequences.
In many cases, cybercriminals aim to breach healthcare businesses to leverage the data and carry out ransomware attacks (to request a large sum of money in exchange for lost data or access to networks/files).
How to Protect Healthcare Software
When it comes to protecting healthcare services from unwanted security incidents, a couple of things can be done. For starters, securing an in-house security team is guaranteed to reduce the risk of cyber attacks or prevent the consequences from playing out in their full capacity.
However, organizations that don’t have the budget or the capacity for an in-house security team can still make a difference by practicing common security measures. One of those is using a VPN or a virtual private network to hide IP addresses and encrypt data on the web.
On top of using a VPN on an organizational level, companies should consider setting up antivirus software and ensuring it runs actively in the background. Combining an antivirus with a virtual private network will make a significant difference in the security of a network.
When it comes to healthcare, things can be a bit more complicated when it comes to healthcare since you’re not trying to secure simple computers. We’re talking about advanced medical equipment that tracks and records sensitive data. In some cases, you might need an expert’s opinion or assistance to achieve optimal security within a healthcare organization.
The Future of Healthcare and Cybersecurity
Given the predictions of the rise of IoT in healthcare and the healthcare cyber security market reaching over $57 billion, there’s no doubt that we’re yet to see the advancement of security threats in the medical field.
The good news is that we can expect great developments in medical fields that could change the way we approach treatments and healthcare in general. Speaking from a cyber security point of view, things are bound to get more complicated, but that does not necessarily mean that healthcare businesses are in trouble. Proper security measures can make a big difference!
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