The healthcare industry is no exception to the general public's dread about cyberattacks. Hospitals and other healthcare providers are among those who have yet to fully grasp how crucial it is to keep patient information safe and protect against cyberattacks. As a consequence, cyberattacks on hospital computer networks are likely to rise as a result of this vulnerability.
In addition, according to research by the Australian Cyber Security Center (ACSC), cybercriminals view the healthcare industry as a profitable target for stealing data and other valuable assets. So, ransomware is one of the most widely utilized methods for gaining access to the personal health information of hospital patients in order to extort a hefty ransom payment.
Cyberattacks at healthcare institutions are on the rise, and this article explores the facts behind these intrusions, as well as the best ways to avoid them. More details can be found further down this page.
The State of Cyberattacks: What You Need to Know
As previously stated, hackers are targeting the healthcare sectors in order to get access to sensitive patient data, such as personal information and clinical results, as well as other profitable hospital resources.
When it comes to compromising hospital IT systems, the CrowdStrike 2022 Global Threat Report states that ransomware is the most commonly used method. The danger here is that they can get really good at focusing on a certain victim using this method.
Additionally, critical hospital IT systems, which are used to support patients, are at peril of attacks. That's because this system comprises of many network components that are connected together, spanning from legacy systems to modern, more advanced ones, with different layers of security. Vulnerabilities in software and hardware, such as Apache Log4h2, are simply adding to the attack surface.
How to Protect Your Healthcare Against Cyberattacks?
Healthcare providers must be able to reduce the number of attack vectors in their IT systems if they want to minimize the severity and frequency of cyberattacks. Healthcare IT systems are vulnerable to cybercrime, but there are at least seven actions that may be taken to protect them. Here are a few cases.
1. Protect All Workloads
Endpoint and workload security, data and identity protection, plus data storage are just a few of the crucial aspects that need to be protected to keep healthcare facilities safe from cyberattacks.
In order to achieve the "zero trust" security framework's identity verification and authentication goals, you need look for solutions with extended detection and response (XDR), which can correlate data from various security layers and workloads.
2. Know Your Enemies
Consider the cyber criminals an adversary. The security team could undoubtedly develop more complex and strong defenses if they knew who was attacking them. Naturally, threat intelligence services are needed to assist in collecting information from any bad actors who target the healthcare industry as a victim.
3. Be Vigilant and Agile
In a couple of hours, significant data leaks can occur, according to CrowdStrike Cybersecurity's research. It takes an average of 1 hour 32 minutes for a cybercriminal to move from one compromised host to another.
The security team at healthcare facilities must always be on the lookout for incidents like these, which necessitates automation of actions like prevention, detection, investigation, and workflow response with cyber threat intelligence immediately observed.
4. Adopt Zero Trust
Identity-based attacks, such as lateral movement, are commonly used to compromise legitimate credentials during cyberattacks. Most cybercriminals just log in as normal users because they have easy access to user credentials from dark-web data brokers.
A zero trust approach must be implemented in the healthcare industry in order to prevent identity-based attacks from happening in real time. Advanced AI and behavioral analytics are also used to impose risk-based conditional access in this system.
5. Monitor Cybercriminals Activities
The dark web is a common meeting place for cybercriminals, who often congregate via a variety of messaging services and forums. In this case, the security team must constantly be ready to "come in" and monitor their environment and activities.
Data and assets in the healthcare industry need to be monitored for risks using digital risk monitoring tools. Additional requirements include early detection of potential risks and the usage of visibility to avoid data breaches and ransomware.
6. Invest in Elite Threat Hunting
Non-malware attacks and keyboard activity account for 62% of all cyberattacks. In the face of ever-evolving cybercrime, machine learning alone isn't enough to keep them out of the hands of hackers.
Consequently, businesses must combine this technology with experts in the field of threat hunting. Using such services, the healthcare industry can more swiftly detect and respond to possible intrusions.
7. Create Cybersecurity Culture
The healthcare industry's fight against hackers requires more than just sophisticated technologies. Additionally, the healthcare industry must establish a cybersecurity culture by conducting a training program for all staff to better grasp the fundamental actions to take in the event of a cyberattack.
Not only that, but the IT personnel must also undergo regular training in order to detect and mitigate cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
Read More: Unlocking the True Value of Big Data in Government: The Case of Smart City
CrowdStrike Falcon Complete Effectively Reduce Healthcare Cyberattacks
Optimize your healthcare business's cyber protection with CrowdStrike Falcon Complete once you've learned the seven strategies above. Data leaks and other sorts of cyber threats can be prevented by this solution, which uses cloud-based endpoints and identity protection to stop leaks. CrowdStrike Falcon Complete has a number of notable features, including these three.
Unified Threats and Vulnerabilities Management
It's possible to profile cybercriminals and their targets using Falcon Spotlight, that is a component of an integrated platform that can prevent both exploitation and post-exploitation activities.
Scanless dan Fast
An automated, always-on vulnerability management system that prioritizes data in real time is provided by Falcon Spotlight's scanless technology. This feature is able to minimize lengthy and complicated reports thanks to its user-friendly interface.
Zero Impact
Using a single lightweight agent, CrowdStrike Falcon collects data and reuses it as much as possible. As a result, Falcon Spotlight no longer requires extra agents, hardware, scanners, or credentials to operate. It's as simple as turning it on and using it instantly.
Get CrowdStrike Falcon Complete from Virtus Technology Indonesia
Virtus, as an authorized CrowdStrike distributor, provides cyber security management solutions that can protect your company from a number of cyberattacks and other online threats. CrowdStrike Falcon Complete is available right now from Virtus.
At every level of CrowdStrike Falcon Complete implementation, Virtus will be there to assist you, from advising to post-sales support. To avoid spending time and money figuring out what works and what doesn't in your IT infrastructure, you can rely on us to assist you handle any problems that may come. Please email marketing@virtusindonesia.com for more information about our services.
Jeko Iqbal Reza
Content Writer CTI Group
