EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
In the past two months, dozens of temporary coronavirus field hospitals have cropped up across the world, creating a unique set of cyber security challenges.
“They’re remote, they sit outside of a defense-in-depth architecture and the very nature of their purpose –care in a time of crisis- means security is a lower priority.”
As a result, cyber criminals can potentially snatch personal health information, spread ransomware, or cause medical device abnormalities, leading to life-threatening circumstances.
And, in addition to presenting an independent risk, field hospitals also present a risk to the primary medical facilities that they’re affiliated with, as they often retain insecure endpoints.
“…these temporary medical units [field hospitals] leave the connected medical environment more exposed than ever before,” says one industry expert.
Best cyber practices for protecting field hospitals include:
- Running through cyber attack drills (in the way that you’d run through a fire drill)
- Ensuring that your system is backed up in an offline location, as to circumnavigate the effects of a ransomware attack
- Securing all endpoints and segmenting your network
- Protect cloud-based EHR systems and maintain compliance with HIPPA
- Embeding security into IoT infrastructure, such as monitoring devices and smart beds
For more information on protecting hospitals from cyber attacks, read this blog post.
