Data breaches have become one of the main cyber threats faced by all kinds of businesses and organizations. Healthcare data breaches are particularly problematic as you have a lot of confidential client information.
This means that healthcare organizations need to take exceptional measures to safeguard health data. So how do you prevent your organization from being a victim of ransomware or a data breach? This article lists 4 key ways that you can protect your client information and prevent data breaches.
1. Strong User Authentication
One of the main ways you can protect your organization is through strong user authentication. This means that everyone should use a strong password. You also need to make sure that employees are not using the same password for work they use in their personal lives.
If hackers break into someone’s personal email, they could use the same password to break into your organization.
Of course, there’s more to user authentication than simply having a unique password. You should also consider measures such as 2-factor authentication. This adds another layer of security so that simply having an employee’s password isn’t enough to gain access.
2. Properly Dispose Of Old Equipment
If you want to keep your healthcare records secure, you can’t just throw away old equipment. Many cybercriminals will target digital devices that organizations dispose of improperly.
A classic mistake is deleting everything from a hard drive and then disposing of it. You may think that all the data is gone, but someone could easily recover it if it hasn’t been overwritten.
This is why you should use a proper digital disposal service. With healthcare organizations starting to rely on more internet of things devices, it’s essential to properly dispose of your devices.
Learn more about the internet of things security before implementing these things at your healthcare organization.
3. Physical Safeguards
Not only do you need to safeguard your digital systems, but you also need to make sure your physical facility is secure. Lots of patients and staff come and go in healthcare buildings. This makes it easy for unauthorized people to gain access.
This could enable them to do in-person cyber attacks, meaning your firewalls and other security measures are useless. If you truly want your organization to be safe and secure, you need to have physical security measures as well as digital ones.
These Tips Will Help You Prevent Data Breaches
As a healthcare organization, you have a legal and moral responsibility to prevent data breaches. Patients trust you to take care of their confidential information, so you need to take every possible measure to ensure that data doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.
It’s not enough to simply mandate the use of strong passwords. You need to also consider things like your physical security and correct disposal of digital devices.
If you want to learn more about other security-related topics, take a look at some of our other blog entries.
