Employees could leave health systems vulnerable to hacks

Healthcare organizations are vulnerable to cyberattacks in many ways, with a big threat being a company or hospital's own employees, according to Ari Baranoff, assistant special agent in charge for the U.S. Secret Service's Criminal Investigative Division.

"Your workforce is a potential vulnerability to your network," Baranoff tells Healthcare IT Security. "Constantly educating your workforce and testing your workforce on their cyberhygiene is very important."

Even if employees mean no harm, just by browsing the Internet or checking their email they can put networks at risk, Baranoff says. It's especially dangerous if these activities are done using the same system that houses electronic health records or other hospital information.

In addition, employee information is also something that often is at risk and can raise problems for hospitals. The Secret Service has seen growing interest in extortion and ransomware campaigns in the healthcare industry, according to Baranoff.

However, a great deal of the threats to health systems come from the outside world, he adds.

For instance, recent breach at Sony Pictures, the health information of employees was hacked, including a memo with treatment and diagnosis details about an employee's child with special needs, as well as a spreadsheet from a human resources folder containing birth dates, health conditions and medical costs.

Data breaches are expected to increase in 2015, with healthcare "a vulnerable and attractive target for cybercriminals," according to Experian's 2015 Data Breach Industry Forecast.

Electronic medical records and consumer-generated data from wearables and other devices will continue to add to the vulnerability and complexity in securing personal health information, according to the report.

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