As healthcare organizations everywhere have worked rapidly to adopt new measures like telehealth, helping them treat large numbers of patients at an aggressive pace, many have struggled to find effective deployment strategies. With the dawning of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of remote work, many have had to quickly figure out new ways of accessing data and getting work done remotely, and this has led to a number of issues. Many of these issues, unfortunately, involve a heightened need for security fortification.
Throughout the last 12 months, we’ve witnessed a global data security crisis in addition to a global public health crisis. Healthcare organizations have seen ransomware perpetrators become increasingly sophisticated, and they’re targeting organizations with large extortion demands and highly disruptive attacks that can bring healthcare IT to a complete halt. Moreover, this uptick in attacks has led many health organizations to discover that they lack a truly resilient defense that can help them maintain IT control when a ransomware attack strikes.
It’s important for all health organizations to know the importance of protecting their data. It’s not enough just to stay one step ahead of ransomware – what you’ve really got to do is cover all your bases, all the time, ranging from physical environments to virtual spaces to the cloud. And you’ve got to know the full scope of what you’re up against – right now, the typical health organization is being targeted by four known nation state actors, plus the ongoing issue of copycat threats. And if a ransomware attack ever does strike your infrastructure, patient safety could be seriously threatened.
So how do you fight back? What many organizations have done is invest in frontline security solutions aimed at preventing ransomware attacks; others have simply halted remote access to data as an extreme precaution. In addition to deploying security solutions, many have implemented additional hardening measures to protect data, such as having multiple copies of files and relying on backups when needed. In any event, the sad truth is that it’s virtually impossible to build an IT infrastructure that’s 100% impenetrable.
While you can’t prevent all attacks, what you can do is make sure your organization is ready to respond, if and when they happen. That’s why investing in disaster recovery is so important. If your healthcare organization is ever targeted by a ransomware attack, you want to have a response ready that is swift and effective. An attack that’s unaddressed can start by corrupting one device, then quickly spiral out of control and endanger your whole ecosystem. If you have a DR process that’s automated and orchestrated perfectly, you’ll be able to regain control of your environment.
At Zones, we are ready and willing to help you draw up such a process. We have always understood the importance of Security Fortification, and that’s especially the case now, as ransomware attacks rapidly increase during these challenging times. We have the knowledge and experience to help your organization address these issues – and, thanks to our strategic partnership with organizations like Veritas, we have the right connections to get you the IT you need. Connect with us today, and we’ll show you how to go the extra mile to keep your organization secure.
Play our HackerTrack online cyber-spy game to learn more about combating ransomware. There’s even a chance to win prizes!