Health Data Protection & Cyber Security

Today’s ever-accelerating technology changes make data related to health care, medical and financial issues even more attractive (and profitable) to cybercriminals who sell medical identities and siphon money from stolen financial records. Risks are exponentially increased because of organizations’ reliance on electronic systems for mission-critical functions.

Most healthcare organizations do not understand their information privacy and security risks, or even know where to start to improve their security structure.

From personal medical devices to enterprise-wide platforms, systems are being targeted with resulting data losses. Onerous compliance requirements are exacerbated by the scarcity and high cost of skilled privacy and security resources, complex and risky IT technology, and increasingly dangerous and pervasive cyber threats.

As healthcare moves increasingly outside hospital walls and into homes and communities using consumer-based technologies, patient trust in providers must extend to the data and new devices used for monitoring and treatment. Health organizations must consider carefully how to address their privacy and security needs in a cost effective manner.

Mobile and cloud technologies, as well as health care exchanges, are all changing the way health care organizations manage risk internally, extend security to their partners and ensure security in concert with their application providers. Demand for consumer-facing applications, especially mobile applications, spawns a whole new set of concerns and risks because such applications rely on consumers to manage their own sensitive data.