Telemed Poll Uncovers Biggest Risks and Best Practices

Health care organizations have long gone digital throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, just like the rest of us – with the use of telehealth products and services getting to be the go-to format for med checks, regimen consultations and therapist visits. But how harmless are these solutions when it arrives to client facts?

In an unique Threatpost poll of 159 individuals (50 % of whom explained they’ve experienced the latest telemed appointments them selves), 72 percent saw an uptick in targeted cyberattacks on telehealth products and networks about the previous 9 months. And far more than 50 percent of all those polled (58 %) believe that digital health care visits are dangerous, from a cybersecurity standpoint.

Telehealth for a lot of medical center IT departments represents new difficulties. Several of them are presently-overloaded and underneath-resourced in healthcare configurations.

[Editor’s Note: This article is part of an exclusive FREE eBook, sponsored by ZeroNorth. The eBook, “Healthcare Security Woes Balloon in a Covid-Era World”, examines the pandemic’s current and lasting impact on cybersecurity. Get the whole neatly-packaged story and DOWNLOAD the eBook now – on us!]

Our Threatpost poll found many are wrestling with the addition of systems like Zoom (which has experienced its share of security issues and scrutiny) and secure supply portals for HIPAA-secured info this kind of as digital imaging and prescriptions. But also, telemed is a two-way street patients at property are utilizing dwelling networks and individual devices to access their treatment – which can be a lot more vulnerable to attackers than doctors’ place of work infrastructure.

“Healthcare has experienced to make a large amount of significant, fast moves all around IT, like the forced transition to telehealth, and must quickly reply to improved interest from destructive actors from country-states appropriate down to nuisance attackers,” claimed Casey Ellis, CTO and founder of bug-bounty business Bugcrowd.

Of people poll members who knowledgeable an increase in attacks, 28 % saw involving a one particular- and 25-percent enhance in cyberattack volume – with 37 percent reporting a snowballing of additional than 25 percent.

When it comes to the threats that cybersecurity gurus are anxious about, more than 50 % (58 %) of respondents said that the most significant security challenges stem from the risk of information breaches as much more individual facts moves to the cloud (small business email compromise and phishing attacks, insecure APIs and ransomware were being other problems pointed out).

But virtual health care and telehealth expert services are also prime of mind when it arrives to challenges, with 50 % of the respondents indicating they have had a telemed appointment given that the pandemic broke out.

 

When questioned what they view as the riskiest hyperlink in the digital healthcare chain, 35 percent of Threatpost poll respondents pointed to insecure video-conferencing platforms. This was adopted by the telemedicine platforms applied to manage units and client knowledge (25 %) the digitization of client information (17 p.c) and goal-developed telemed IoT units (11 p.c).

Threatpost also questioned about the most important cybersecurity issues when it comes to telehealth – and an overpowering bulk (58 percent) cited protecting against info breaches as extra individual details moves to the cloud. A quarter (24 percent) of respondents reported that thwarting company email compromise and phishing attacks is the most significant problem, even though wrestling with insecure APIs and ransomware were also cited by some.

On the optimistic aspect of the equation, respondents cited their beloved most effective procedures for security groups in health care companies to just take on.

Obtain our distinctive Absolutely free Threatpost Insider E book Health care Security Woes Balloon in a Covid-Era Globe , sponsored by ZeroNorth, to study far more about what these security pitfalls mean for hospitals at the working day-to-day amount and how healthcare security teams can employ best tactics to protect suppliers and individuals. Get the whole tale and Down load the E-book now.