Without a doubt, the internet has considerably simplified the exchange of information in all areas of human activity, and it has been no different in the hospital sector. However, all this ease has also opened up space for many risks, such as cyberattacks, which are increasingly threatening the operations of hospitals daily.

Several countries like the US, Great Britain, and Brazil have seen their institutions invaded and their activities halted due to the compromise of data and, consequently, the lives of thousands of people.

An example of this occurred in 2017, when cybercriminals hacked into the Hospital do Câncer de Barretos and demanded a ransom payment to restore access to the institution's systems. The hackers wanted to receive R$ 995.4 thousand to end the "kidnapping" of the hospital's systems.

During the attack, employees had to carry out their activities manually, filling out paper forms, while more than 350 people waiting to undergo procedures such as radiation therapy had to postpone their treatments.

Crucial to society, the healthcare sector moves billions of dollars annually, which is why it attracts the attention of hackers who look to profit from these threats.

Such important institutions cannot be held hostage by this coercion, and the only way to avoid it is to ensure the necessary preparation, planning, and organization to prevent the consequences caused by the lack of cyber security.

In practice, managers and administrators of hospitals need to stay updated and adhere to best practices in digital security to ensure that their business and their clients are protected.

Discover below some actions that can be taken.

Investment in the IT Sector

As obvious as it may seem, this tip is essential. After all, any business or institution that depends on the internet to run its operations should never underestimate information security.

It must be considered that a vast amount of important information circulates through the network and is subject to interception, theft, and manipulation.

If you have never thought about this, there is still time. Click here, access the CodeBit website, and check out all the solutions developed on demand to meet your needs.

Encryption

Indeed, encryption is one of the best solutions for preventing intrusions and data theft.

In short, it translates data from a readable format into an encoded format. Encrypted data can only be read or processed after it has been decrypted.

The tool ensures that relevant institution and patient information is not easily accessed and creates multiple barriers to hinder hacker activity. Hospitals, clinics, and medical practices handle thousands of sensitive data points daily, such as medical histories, medical charts, signatures, and financial data; therefore, building an cryptographic barrier helps protect this information effectively.

Digital Signature

Although the market as a whole has gone digital, the truth is that many hospitals have not actually kept up with these innovations.

Several institutions in this field, for example, still use paper-based signatures, which can easily be stolen from scanned documents and manipulated.

A good strategy to avoid this type of problem is to invest in digital certificates, which create an extra security barrier and guarantee that the signers are indeed who they claim to be.

Confidentiality Policies

Another very frequent problem in healthcare institutions is confidentiality. In 2016, the São Paulo City Government allowed the data of over 350,000 patients to be easily accessible simply because it lacked an adequate confidentiality protocol. Information such as SSN (CPF), full names, and medical charts could be found via quick and alarmingly simple searches.

The good news is that situations like this can be avoided through an efficient system of rules and procedures for digital documents. By adopting this solution, data is protected within a platform that requires users to enter a password or passcode to view information. This way, patient privacy is preserved.

Bet on a Cloud System

Last but not least, it is important to point out that documents stored in physical records are easy to lose or corrupt.

In this context, cloud computing is one of the safest formats for archiving relevant data and information.

By keeping all data transfers in a single system, it is possible to ensure more security in the process and limit people's access to certain information. Thus, if there is any security flaw, it can be easily identified and fixed.

Another major benefit of the format is data preservation, which is properly secured using technology. This is because, once stored, the information is replicated across multiple servers to prevent any kind of loss or displacement.

Conclusion

Hospitals must, above all, establish a relationship of care, transparency, and well-being with their patients and employees, who trust these institutions with their physical health. Therefore, none of the risks mentioned above should be neglected.

If you want to know how to ensure more automation and, consequently, more protection for your organization’s processes, contact CodeBit and learn more about the AWS cloud. The cloud, considered the most secure and widely used in the world, involves an infrastructure developed by Amazon Web Services that features more than 230 security, compliance, and governance resources.

So, did you enjoy discovering how to prevent hospital data leaks?

If this article was interesting to you, keep an eye on the CodeBit Blog and follow all the tips to ensure greater security in the operations of clinics, practices, and hospitals.

Warm regards and see you in the next post!