Medical records fetch a high price on the dark web, with records selling for $60 apiece. Compared to the paltry earning power of a $1-3 credit card number, when a cybercriminal is able to access your clinic's electronic medical records, they'll have hit the motherlode.
The information stored on medical records is invaluable. Names, Social Security Numbers (SSNs) and birthdates have no expiration date and it's unlikely that people affected by the breach would go to the lengths of changing their names or getting a new SSN; and people can't change their birthdates, easily at least.
The healthcare industry has been the number one most-hit by cyberattacks. Healthcare IT News predicts that the healthcare industry will continue to be the cybercriminal's "top target" in 2017.
You can protect your practice from digital incursion by implementing a strong healthcare cybersecurity protocol. You can do this by investing in cyberattack insurance and by using AI.
Can AI really help protect the healthcare industry from data breaches? Why not?
How AI Technology Can Transform Healthcare Data Protection
The Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology (ICIT) argues that it can. In a paper produced by ICIT, lead author James Scott contends that "Early adoption of sophisticated algorithmic defenses such as machine learning or artificial intelligence solutions will transform healthcare cyber defenses beyond the capabilities of average attackers."
The healthcare industry has been hard hit by cybercrime. Dark Reading reports that significant cyberattacks on healthcare steadily grew by as much as 63 percent in 2016. Remember, that percentage is projected to grow in 2017.
How can AI stop cybercriminals dead in their tracks? Through machine learning. The ICIT paper points out that the healthcare industry by and large already uses cognitive and AI solutions "for big data analytics and for clinical applications. ... [The] application of machine learning and artificial intelligence solutions to health IT infrastructures is going to rapidly transform the sector by providing a mechanism through which providers and vendors can protect clinical health data that is stored locally or in the cloud."
In essence, AI would be able to detect anomalies in the system's network and report it back to the IT staff. AI technology can even go so far as to boot the cybercriminal off the network and patch the system.
Cloud Technology
By storing your patients' medical records in the cloud protected by AI, you will be alerted to potential chinks in the network's code and will be better able to protect the identities of your patients.
Not only is using the cloud beneficial to your patients' protection, it's also beneficial to your clinic. Cybercriminals have time and again frozen and stolen pertinent patient data, costing hospitals hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages, extortion and legal fees.
If faced with a data breach, could your clinic afford the monetary ramifications? Could your reputation (and wallet) afford years of litigation? No, but cyber insurance could help you cover the costs and get your medical clinic back into good and healthy standing.
For more information on cyber insurance and cybersecurity, visit CyberPolicy.
