Are You Sure Your Medical Practice’s Devices Are Secure?
Did you know that 20.4 billion Internet of Things (IoT) devices will be online by the end of this year?
This technology, from wearables to office space appliances, has become a big part of the healthcare world — are you sure it’s secure enough to trust with your patients’ data?
What Is The Internet of Things?
The IoT is a natural evolution of the Internet, consisting of a range of new “smart” and “connected” products and technologies for the commercial, consumer, and government environments.
In addition, on the consumer and office side, vendors are rushing to meet the growing market demand for new products that are always-on, connected, and available. The ever-expanding network of IoT devices offers a range of convenient benefits to consumers, and offers exciting applications in the business world.
Whether it’s a smart fridge in the home, a smart display sign out front of a McDonald’s, or the smart console in a user’s car, IoT devices can vary greatly in purpose and usage. They are even being used in the healthcare space…
IoT In Healthcare
As of 2019, 87% of healthcare organizations have introduced the IoT into their operations — they can be highly beneficial to organizations like yours, assisting with critical processes such as:
- Patient monitoring and communication
- Patient drug supply (infusion pumps)
- Electronic health implants
- Hospital and building management
- Patient engagement
- Data collection
Are IoT Devices Secure?
Not necessarily.
Unfortunately, aspects of product security and lifecycle are often treated as an afterthought at best in the development and production of these products. More and more of us are buying devices for our homes and offices, and even devices that we carry with us that require a connection to the Internet.
Have you stopped to consider the risks?
As a so-far unregulated aspect of the IT world, IoT devices have been developed with minimal or nonexistent security features, even though they often connect over networks to sensitive data.
If your IoT devices aren’t safeguarded, cybercriminals can do a lot of damage to your practice:
- Capturing information traveling through the network.
- Turning off critical refrigeration, alarm systems, etc.
- Taking control of utilities like thermostats.
Worried You’re Not Protecting ePHI On loT Devices?
NST will help to get the network set up properly and equip you with the right solution to help secure your loT devices. As your partner in cybersecurity, we will help you:
- Reduce compliance risk and increase visibility throughout their organization.
- Develop a flexible and scalable IT environment that can easily adapt to new data sources.
- Perform detailed vulnerability scanning, reporting, and log retention.
- Give clients confidence that their data was being properly protected.
No matter what type of medical practice you operate, you don’t want to put your patients’ data at risk. We can help you keep ePHI safe — get in touch with our team to discover how.
