Trust is the foundation of all medical care. Patients rely on their healthcare providers not just for their skills and expertise, but also for their empathy, understanding, and confidentiality.
Today, safeguarding sensitive protected health information is an essential part of maintaining this trust and delivering quality care. But despite the highly regulated nature of the healthcare industry, the sector remains a prime target for cyberattacks due to its reliance on outdated systems, limited security resources, and the high monetary value of patient data. Threat actors only need one vulnerability in a healthcare provider’s defenses to gain access, which can quickly escalate from a minor incident into a full-blown data breach that exposes patient data.
By proactively securing weak points, implementing advanced threat detection tools, and fostering awareness among staff, healthcare IT teams can safeguard personal health information and maintain patient trust.
Why Is Healthcare a Target for Data Breaches?
Cybercriminals target medical providers largely due to the vast amounts of sensitive data they store, including
protected health information (PHI), credit card and banking information, and
personally identifiable information (PII) like Social Security numbers.
This data offers monetary value to cybercriminals who can sell it on the dark web or leverage it for identity theft and insurance fraud. Healthcare data breaches cost organizations up to
$408 per record, which is three times higher than the cross-industry average of $148 per record.
Additionally, many providers still depend on outdated systems, processes and medical devices that lack strong cybersecurity protections. Because these systems are highly interconnected, a vulnerability in just one device can open the door for attackers to infiltrate the entire network. This makes attacking healthcare IT systems especially worthwhile for bad actors.
Common Data Security Concerns in Healthcare
Healthcare providers face several data security challenges that necessitate strong
healthcare cybersecurity defenses. As organizations adopt new technologies, they have to address the growing vulnerabilities that come with handling sensitive data across multiple devices and systems.
Telehealth
Telehealth platforms play a critical role in enabling remote patient care, but they also introduce significant risks to data privacy and security. Whether accessed through a website, mobile app, or patient portal, telehealth platforms handle large amounts of sensitive data like medical records, prescriptions, and billing information. Potential vulnerabilities on a patient’s device or the use of unsecured networks — like public Wi-Fi — further increase the likelihood of unauthorized access and data breaches.
IoT Devices
Clinics and hospitals increasingly rely on Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as remote patient monitoring systems and imaging equipment. While these devices facilitate real-time patient monitoring, they have limited processing power that restricts their ability to support essential security features like multi-factor authentication and encryption.
Without a centralized management system to monitor and control these devices, organizations may overlook suspicious activity or security gaps. Additionally, since IoT devices connect to the broader network, cybercriminals can target them as vulnerable entry points for larger, network-wide attacks.
Cloud Services
Like many organizations, healthcare providers have widely embraced cloud storage solutions to manage and store patient data. Although the cloud offers valuable scalability and flexibility, it also requires security measures as strong as those for on-premises systems. Additionally, reliance on third-party cloud providers creates uncertainty around shared security responsibilities, potentially creating gaps in protection.
Social Engineering
Social engineering attacks take advantage of the trust-based, personal interactions that healthcare organizations rely on daily. Cybercriminals impersonate patients, vendors, or employees of the organization to manipulate actual staff into divulging sensitive information or granting unauthorized access to systems.
Common tactics include phishing attacks and business email compromise (BEC) in which attackers use a seemingly legitimate email address to trick the recipient into transferring funds or sensitive data. These attacks are becoming harder to detect as attacks grow more sophisticated.
Employee Error
Healthcare workers interact with complex systems daily, which makes human error a considerable risk factor for data breaches. All it takes is one mistake — like sending a patient’s medical file to the wrong email recipient or bypassing proper access control protocols.
Additionally, staff members who fail to recognize suspicious activity may fall victim to social engineering attacks, like clicking on a phishing email link. Seemingly minor errors like this can quickly escalate into major security breaches.
Third-Party Vendor Vulnerabilities
Healthcare providers rely on a number of third-party vendors, including billing services, cloud storage providers, virtual meetings, and laboratory systems. If a vendor lacks strong security measures, cybercriminals can exploit vulnerabilities in their systems to access the provider’s data.
Additionally, healthcare organizations often have limited visibility into their vendors’ security practices. Without thorough vetting and oversight, organizations may unknowingly partner with vendors who mishandle sensitive data or fail to implement critical data security measures.
10 Ways to Help Prevent Data Breaches in Healthcare
Preventing data breaches in healthcare requires a holistic approach to security that includes staff education, strong internal controls, and strategic investments in security defenses.
1. Employee Education and Training
Ongoing cybersecurity training is essential for preparing staff to handle potential threats. Since healthcare professionals often work long hours and may struggle to make time for security training, prioritize practical, high-impact areas like secure patient data handling, recognizing social engineering attacks, and understanding regulatory compliance. Periodic simulations, like phishing tests, can further assess staff readiness by identifying knowledge gaps and areas for improvement.
2. Consistent Risk Analysis
Conducting routine risk analyses allows you to proactively identify and address potential weaknesses within the complex IT environments of healthcare organizations. Make sure to take stock of potential threats to patient data, healthcare systems, and operational technology to ensure that emerging risks don’t go unnoticed.
In practice, addressing all vulnerabilities at once may not be feasible. Prioritize risks based on their potential impact, focusing first on the most critical security gaps that threaten patient data and essential healthcare operations.
3. User Access Management
Unlike office environments where each employee uses an individual device, healthcare facilities rely on shared workstations like nurses’ stations and mobile medical carts that multiple staff members access throughout the day. That makes strict access controls essential, because unchecked user access can create opportunities for unauthorized entry — and ultimately, data breaches.
Implementing role-based access controls curbs this risk by restricting employees’ access to only what they need to perform their jobs. As team members take on new roles and responsibilities, you can revisit access management protocols to ensure everyone has the information needed to do their job. Moreover, actively monitoring user activity can help you detect suspicious behavior before it becomes a threat.
4. Invest In a Robust IT Team
The size and structure of IT teams vary across organizations, but it’s crucial to have at least one dedicated IT professional to manage cybersecurity. Seek experts with healthcare experience who understand regulatory requirements and the complexities of protecting healthcare data. As you build out your IT team, consider adding security-specific roles, such as a chief information security officer (CISO) and security analysts, to address strategic and technical needs.
Keep your team prepared for emerging threats by investing in ongoing learning opportunities, like industry-specific security certifications. However, even the strongest internal teams cannot counter every risk alone, especially since modern security threats demand 24/7/365 monitoring. Outsourcing services like
managed detection and response (MDR) provides around-the-clock surveillance and expert-led
incident response, ensuring your organization is protected at all times.
5. Ongoing Compliance Auditing
Meeting regulatory standards like HIPAA requires routine compliance audits to verify that your policies, procedures, and technical safeguards align with legal requirements. You can conduct audits internally, work with a third party, or use a combination of both approaches.
Streamline the audit process by maintaining clear and detailed documentation of your organization’s security policies, staff training records, incident response plans, and access controls. Storing records in an organized and easily accessible location enables efficient demonstration of compliance when needed.
6. Build an Incident Response Plan
Every healthcare organization needs to create an
incident response plan that enables them to swiftly contain and eliminate threats. A well-constructed plan lays out clear, step-by-step protocols for identifying, responding to, and eradicating security threats before they escalate into full-scale data breaches.
Key elements of an incident response plan include clearly defined employee roles during security events, containment procedures, communication strategies, evidence collection protocols, and post-incident recovery steps to restore operations. Regularly testing and updating your incident response plan allows your team to act decisively, minimizing both damage and downtime in the event of an attack.
7. Encrypt Sensitive Data
Encryption transforms data into an unreadable code that’s accessible only to users with a unique decryption key. End-to-end encryption secures data in transit, protecting it from the source (e.g., a patient or healthcare provider) to its final destination, such as an insurance company or electronic health records (EHR) system. This approach keeps sensitive data secure, even if bad actors intercept it. As you vet encryption tools, prioritize HIPAA-compliant solutions trusted by industry leaders.
8. Network Segmentation
Network segmentation is a security technique that divides a network into smaller, isolated subnetworks to limit access to sensitive data and systems. For example, you can separate critical systems that manage patient records and financial information from less secure networks, like guest Wi-Fi or administrative tools.
Even if an attacker infiltrates a lower-security area, segmentation prevents them from moving laterally across the network. This approach also supports HIPAA’s “minimum necessary” rule by limiting PHI access to only staff who require it for their roles.
9. Third-Party Due Diligence
Conduct comprehensive risk assessments before partnering with any vendor. Evaluate their security practices, including access controls, data protection methods, and compliance with healthcare-specific regulations.
Not all vendors carry the same level of risk, so consider tailoring your risk assessments based on the type of service a vendor provides. For example, a cloud storage provider handling PHI warrants much stricter scrutiny than a vendor providing scheduling tools with no access to sensitive data.
10. Update Your Technology Stack
Outdated systems and devices pose serious security risks in healthcare. Legacy EHR platforms often lack modern encryption capabilities and compatibility with current security tools. A thorough assessment of your tech stack helps identify outdated systems, software, or devices in need of immediate attention. This enables you to prioritize upgrades or replacements to systems that handle sensitive information.
After updating legacy systems, strengthen your tech stack with cybersecurity tools designed to prevent breaches like
endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions and
security information and event management (SIEM) platforms. Opt for interoperable solutions that communicate seamlessly, allowing your security tools to work together for more holistic protection.
How Redpoint Can Help Healthcare Organizations Stay Ahead of Data Breaches
Redpoint delivers targeted, proactive security solutions to help your healthcare organization tackle threats before they escalate. From advanced threat detection to comprehensive incident response planning, our team offers the expertise and tools needed to stay one step ahead of cybercriminals.
We also offer
HIPAA compliance consulting services to guide you through complex regulatory requirements, ensuring you’re audit-ready at any time. With decades of experience in highly regulated industries, we streamline compliance and security processes to help you build a robust framework that safeguards patient data and upholds trust.
Ready to take your healthcare cybersecurity to the next level?
Reach out to our team of experts today.
