healthcare cybersecurity

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Today, Shanti Gidwani is Cisco’s national director for healthcare in Canada — but in a former life she was a Registered Nurse. As we approach the biggest Health IT event...

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If 2017 was about ransomware attacks, 2018 will be about cyber attacks on the Internet of Things (aka medical devices). As we begin the year, that's the message we're hearing...

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“If Microsoft calls and asks you for your password…it’s not real, ” said Steve LeBlond, VP of Technology and CTO of Ochsner Health System, while speaking at our Digital Health Summit on October 3. “We [Information Technology] will never ask you to log us in.” Steve was talking about phishing attacks, one of the biggest […]

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­­The FDA recall of a medical device last week has caused a bit of a media storm as the general public scrambles to find out more. The fact that a medical device meant to help sustain life is insecure and could be hacked to kill a patient is alarming to all of us. More worrying […]

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This week, the FDA took the unprecedented step of recalling a medical device – a pacemaker – because it was found to be vulnerable to cyber threats. The recall arose from an investigation by the FDA in February that highlighted a number of areas of non-compliance. While there are no known reports of patient harm related […]

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Imagine your worst nightmare: Your healthcare facility is hit with a ransomware attack (like WannaCry or Nyetya), forcing patient care to come to a grinding halt. Now imagine that you’re unable to recover from this attack, because it also took down every system in your organization, including the ones you thought were your safety nets. […]

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Like a nasty strain of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, ransomware reared its ugly head again this week. This attack is called Nyetya, as named by Cisco’s Talos threat intelligence team. (You may have heard it referred to in the press as Petya, but we believe this variant is different enough to warrant its own moniker.) Nyetya is […]

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Today’s news of the cyberattack affecting healthcare organizations—including the National Health Service (NHS)—in the UK, is sobering. Sources are reporting that the ransomware attack has “crippled the health system’s ability to treat patients.” Thousands of non-emergency appointments have been canceled, and ambulances have been diverted to other facilities, leading the NHS to declare the attack […]

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It’s a gross understatement to say that security is critical in healthcare, where a breach can not only impact an organization’s effectiveness and reputation but also affect patient privacy and—worst-case scenario—health and safety. If you are reading this blog, you no doubt already know the most common challenges to securing digital healthcare organizations, from ensuring […]