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Cybersecurity

Beyond Human Training

Cybersecurity: Beyond human training

On Wednesday, November 27, 2019, Great Plains Health, a hospital system in Nebraska, fell victim to a ransomware attack shutting down all hospital computer systems and forced the hospital to cancel all non-emergency procedures.

On Thursday, December 12, 2019, Southeastern Minnesota Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (SEMONS) reported a ransomware attack that may have exposed the Personal Health Information (PHI) of their patients. On September 23, 2019, hackers attacked a server used by SEMONS in a ransomware attack. The IT department intervened immediately and was able to restore the data quickly. SEMONS did not report a ransom demand or money paid to the hackers, but the facility had to inform their 80,000 patients of the threat.

On Friday, December 13, 2019, the City of New Orleans suffered a severe cyberattack, which led Mayor LaToya Cantrell to declare a state of emergency. The city's IT department immediately gave the order for all city employees to power down their computers and mobile phones and disconnect from WiFi. Additionally, the city servers were removed from their power sources to isolate the malware. The city's health department continues to have limited access to patient information, causing officials to reschedule appointments.


Do I have your attention yet? Here are three cyberattacks impacting the healthcare industry in the last month.


It seems that every day, the news media reports on a new cyberattack. Healthcare facilities and government agencies are amongst the most provocative targets for these cyber-criminals. Typically the criminals are hoping to extort a ransom from the victim. But aside from the ransom, the victim is often paying much more than the extorted payment. The Ponemon Institute conducts independent research on data protection and emerging information technologies. Ponemon's 'Cost of Cybercrime Study'* averages the cost of cybercrime at $13,000,000 per organization. This amount reflects a 12% increase from 2018. Healthcare facilities face the additional burden of a HIPAA violation should they suspect a breach of PHI.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) added provisions for the unauthorized exposure of PHI in the HITECH Act in 2013. These provisions mandate a facility report to HHS, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the patients any actual or suspected breach that may include PHI. The fines and charges for HIPAA violations regarding data breaches fall into two major categories: Reasonable Cause (penalties from $100 to $50,000 per incident with no jail time for named parties) and Willful Neglect (penalties from $10,000 to $50,000 per occurrence and can result in criminal charges.) Additionally, the HITECH Act allows a state's Attorney General to levy fines and seek attorney fees on behalf of the victims. (The California Consumer Privacy Act allows the Attorney General to penalize a covered entity $50,000 for each violation.) Courts can now also award damages and associated costs to a person who's data is exposed.


How can we defend against these attacks in 2020?


Employee training is paramount to proper data security. Some estimates show that 90% of all data breaches occur due to human error. Cybercriminals send millions of emails trying to get one person to make a mistake and allow them into their server system. People are, therefore, the weakest link to cybersecurity defenses. There are numerous software training programs and third-party vendors available to assist an organization with employee training. I have covered this topic in some previous blogs (here and here.)

But in the ever-changing digital landscape, facilities must not only stay current on employee training; they must keep current with the various rules regarding healthcare data and attempt to stay ahead of the cyber-threat. Recommendations from experts generally start with having a NIST-based (National Institute of Standards and Technology) risk security analysis. This analysis will establish a baseline and allow the organization to understand what it must do to become and stay compliant.

Next, an organization must examine its network and implement an early detection framework. Then once this security framework is in place, test it to see how the framework addresses different types of attacks and apply the learning from those tests. Consistent testing will ensure the individuals responsible for the protection of your network know what to do should an attack penetrate your servers.

Lastly, it is always a good idea to evaluate the cyber insurance coverage and understand the requirement and restrictions of the policy.

Unfortunately, the odds are against our security teams, whom we expect to operate flawlessly. But with thousands of devices in a healthcare network and as many users, these professionals cannot be everywhere at all times. Investment in cybersecurity software, training, and vigilance are necessary to stay over the next decade.




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