The Tech Industry's Role in Keeping Healthcare Cybersecure
As companies across the world become more vigilant with cybersecurity, so do cyberattackers methods.
But considering technology is behind cyber sophistication as well as its prevention, what can the technology industry do to help?
In an increasingly digitised world, the healthcare sector is one of many that faces growing cybersecurity challenges.
Yet as healthcare providers adopt advanced technologies to improve patient care, they also become more vulnerable to cyber attacks.
The global healthcare cybersecurity market, valued at US$15.2bn in 2023, is projected to expand significantly as organisations invest in robust defence mechanisms.
This growth reflects the critical role of the technology industry in developing solutions to protect sensitive medical data and maintain the integrity of healthcare systems.
Unfortunately, the recent cyberattack on Star Health and Allied Insurance, India's largest private health insurer, underscores the urgent need for enhanced cybersecurity measures in the healthcare sector.
This incident has only added to the catalyst for examining how the technology industry can bolster defences against such threats.
The Star Health cyberattack
Star Health provides insurance products covering health, personal accident and travel.
However, the company now grapples with the aftermath of a significant data breach.
"We were the victim of a targeted, malicious cyberattack, resulting in unauthorised and illegal access to certain data," Star says.
According to Reuters, a cybercriminal dubbed xenZen, publicly asserted on his website that the executive of Star had "sold all this data to me".
He utilised Telegram, a popular messaging application, to leak private customer data belonging to Star Health.
The leaked information reportedly includes sensitive details such as tax information and medical claim documents.
The hacker ultimately issued a ransom demand of US$68,000 to Star Health.
In response to the breach, Star Health has initiated internal investigations and taken legal action against both Telegram and the unidentified hacker.
The company claims that some of its customer data has already been published on a website operated by the attacker.
Technology's role in cybersecurity prevention
Considering this incident amongst many, the technology industry is developing sophisticated solutions to combat healthcare cyber threats, including:
IBM
For example, IBM's QRadar SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) system uses AI to analyse network behaviour, detecting anomalies that could indicate a breach.
Microsoft Azure
Meanwhile, Microsoft's Azure Sentinel employs machine learning to process vast amounts of data across an organisation's entire IT infrastructure, providing real-time threat intelligence.
Cisco
Cisco's Secure Endpoint additionally uses file reputation scoring and sandboxing to identify and isolate malicious files before they can spread.
Palo Alto Networks
Palo Alto Networks offers a cloud-native security platform that uses behavioural analytics to detect and prevent unknown threats.
These technologies can help prevent incidents like the Star Health breach by identifying unusual data access patterns or detecting the use of compromised credentials.
For instance, Cloudflare's DDoS protection could have potentially prevented the initial breach by blocking malicious traffic, while blockchain solutions from companies like IBM could ensure the integrity of stored medical records, making them tamper-evident.
Advancing cyber insurance in healthcare
From Star Health’s data breach, the evolving role of cyber insurance alongside technology in the healthcare sector has been further highlighted.
Chris Henderson, who manages threat operations and internal security at Huntress, a network security company, explains to Healthcare Digital, the challenges faced by cyber insurers and the technological solutions being developed:
"In cyber insurance, you're working against an adversary capable of developing and pivoting faster than a policy might expire.”
He notes that insurers are increasingly leveraging advanced data analytics and machine learning algorithms to process threat intelligence data from various sources.
This approach enables them to develop more accurate risk models and identify effective controls in real-time.
According to Chris, cyber insurers are ultimately placing greater emphasis on technological solutions for identity verification and authentication.
“Unfortunately, healthcare is traditionally a very complicated system to secure, something threat actors are actively exploiting. This leaves both healthcare organisations and cyber insurers playing a cat-and-mouse game.”
AI and blockchain in healthcare cybersecurity
Amongst the increasing technology innovation to prevent cyber attacks, so has the adoption of AI, yet in healthcare, it presents both opportunities and challenges from a cybersecurity perspective.
Blockchain technologies are also increasingly being employed to enhance healthcare cybersecurity.
Blockchain technology is being integrated with AI systems to create immutable audit trails and enhance data integrity in healthcare.
These technologies can help prevent data breaches like the Star Health incident by providing real-time threat detection, secure data storage and enhanced authentication mechanisms.
AI can analyse network behaviour to detect anomalies, while blockchain can ensure the integrity and traceability of medical records, making unauthorised access or tampering more difficult.
"We urge all platforms, hosting companies, social media channels and users to take swift and decisive action to halt such activities," Star says.
******
Make sure you check out the latest edition of Technology Magazine and also sign up to our global conference series - Tech & AI LIVE 2024
******
Technology Magazine is a BizClik brand