Healthcare organizations make sure our bodies are in top condition and that our immune systems are primed to fight off infection and disease. But that doesn't mean these organizations are invulnerable to their own health concerns.
Hackers and cybercriminals are very interested in attacking healthcare providers, stealing patient data and crippling systems as a form of cyber extortion. There must be some way to combat these threats!
Luckily, there is. More and more healthcare companies are investing in artificial intelligence and machine learning to boost their cybersecurity programs. And while AI can, in some ways, operate on its own, just like the body's immune system it can sometimes use a little outside help.
Below CyberPolicy looks at AI's effect on cybersecurity. Of course, if you want to really insulate your organization from the financial damages of hacker attacks, cyber insurance for medical practices is a must-have investment.
Virtual Immune System
"Machine learning and artificial intelligence can be used to augment and / or replace traditional signature-based protections, says Robert LaMagna-Reiter, senior director of information security at First National Technology Solutions, in an interview with Healthcare IT News.
Many healthcare providers simply do not have the in-house IT staff to monitor networks for malicious software or suspicious activity. And even the organizations that do employ an external cybersecurity agency or in-house team can sometimes miss or overlook significant threats.
This has nothing to do with their ability or dedication to the task at hand. Rather it's simply a matter human capacity.
Think about it like this: If you had to consciously control your immune system to go after every germ, virus, allergen or infection, there is a high possibility that something somewhere would slip past your detection. Fortunately, immune systems don't need our constant supervision.
The same thing can be said about AI cybersecurity systems. These programs are adept at routing out malware scams, phony logins, unauthorized data transfers and more. In fact, they are so good at this job that they regularly flag network activity that is completely benign.
For example, AI2 is a machine learning system developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab. What makes AI2 (a play on Ëœartificial intelligence' and Ëœanalyst intuition') special is that it flags threats to a human analyst who then discriminates between false flags and honest threat. AI2 then takes those directives and improves its detection methods.
The initial success rate for such a program is less than 8 percent. Not much at first glance. But once disciplined by a human analyst, AI is able to detect nearly 85 percent of cyberattacks!
Not to mention that many of the attacks employed by cybercriminals are automated and can breach your network without much guidance. Shouldn't your health organization have similar tools to combat these automated attacks?
But even with all the resources and security features available, a dedicated hacker or zero-day attack could still breach your firewall. That's why organizations ought to invest in cyber insurance for medical practices.
Don't let a cyberattack stymie your ability to treat patients. Visit CyberPolicy for your free quote today!
