HIMSS: 87% of Providers Invest in Data Protection vs. New Threats

Healthcare providers take the issue of cybersecurity seriously, and most of them (87 percent) have implemented new technology and personnel to guard against cyberattacks, results of the 2015 HIMSS Cybersecurity Survey show. Two-thirds of those surveyed also indicated that their organisations had experienced a significant security incident recently. Respondents also reported that more than 50 percent of security incidents were identified by internal security teams.

"The recent breaches in the healthcare industry have been a wake-up call that patient and other data are valuable targets and healthcare organisations need a laser focus on cybersecurity threats," said Lisa Gallagher, Vice President of Technology Solutions, HIMSS. "Healthcare organisations need to rapidly adjust their strategies to defend against cyberattacks. This means incorporating threat data, and implementing new tools and sophisticated analysis into their security process."

The latest HIMSS survey covered 297 healthcare leaders and information security officers across the industry and the results were released at the Privacy and Security Forum held in Chicago. The forum featured case studies and best practices intended to "meet the needs of CIOs, CISOs and other senior healthcare IT leaders," according to organisers. "The information is practical, solutions-based and actionable" designed to help attendees "manage and address their privacy and security challenges and initiatives," added the forum organisers.

In addition, the survey found that at least half of respondents made improvements to network security, endpoint protection, data loss prevention, disaster recovery and IT continuity. Other findings from the survey include the following:

• Respondents use an average of 11 different technologies to secure their environment and more than half of healthcare organisations surveyed hired full time personnel to manage information security
• 42 percent of respondents indicated that there are too many emerging and new threats to track
• 59 percent of survey respondents feel the need for cross-sector cyber threat information sharing
• 80 percent use network monitoring to detect and investigate information security incidents
• 62 percent of security incidents have resulted in limited disruption of IT systems with limited impact on clinical care and IT operations
• 87 percent of respondents reported using antivirus/malware tools to secure their healthcare organisations' information security environment

HIMSS is a global, cause-based, not-for-profit organisation focused on better health through information technology.

Source and image credit: HIMSS