Cryptography has proven to be a necessity for an entire market seeking greater data security. As hackers' skills become more sophisticated, traditional solutions become increasingly outdated, generating a huge daily demand for good encryption resources so that companies can reduce risks to their systems.
However, only the encryption solutions These are not sufficient for all types of organizations to protect their systems.
The healthcare sector is one of the most vulnerable to attacks.
Healthcare organizations are, of all types, the ones most at risk of suffering a ataque cibernéticoBecause their systems are slower, and for the most part, outdated, and consequently less secure as well.
The sector was one of the most affected, as shown by a Check Point Research study, which highlights that, In Brazil alone, there was a 66% increase in cyberattacks. between November and December 2020.
It is estimated that 93% of organizations in this sector have suffered some type of attack on their systems in the last two years.
A large part of this result was caused by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which, by accelerating the migration of organizations' systems to online platforms, forced companies to rush to digitize their services without having systems ready to handle this demand.
The combination of migrating to online systems with these already culturally outdated and slow systems was a perfect opportunity for hackers, who see healthcare systems as a way to acquire more complete and valuable data, such as medical records and billing information.
Data from healthcare organizations can sell for up to 10 times more than credit card information on the dark web.
According to Bruno Porto, partner and leader of Health at PwC Brazil, the data of health organizations are more targeted because "These are complete and richer data than financial data alone."
Eduardo Batista, also a partner and Cybersecurity leader at PwC Brazil, reinforces this: “I can block a credit card. But an electronic medical record is your past, and it’s immutable. That has much more value.”He says.
How can the healthcare sector protect itself?
As healthcare organizations become more digital, the need for more secure communication between patients and companies only increases, also increasing the need for... use of cryptography in communication channelsboth in internal systems among employees and with patients and suppliers, therefore, Modernizing communication channels is essential.
Furthermore, it is also necessary to educate employees about the dangers of phishing scams, since a large portion of security breaches are the result of human error.
However, it is important to emphasize that the Cryptography is not the same for all systems.. the known end-to-end encryption It is the best option when it comes to security, as it involves verification at every stage of the process.
Implement affective access controlsIt is possible to both strengthen information security in healthcare, and restrict access to patient data and to allocate certain applications only to those users who truly need them to perform their work.
These access restrictions require authentication using validation methods known only to the user, such as passwords, PIN numbers, and biometrics (facial recognition, fingerprints, iris scanning).
Each organization needs to determine which encryption methods and measures are necessary or appropriate, considering its workflow and other needs, always aiming to maintain the security of the company's systems and the privacy of its customers' data.
