Cyber Hygiene

OCR Director Urges Healthcare to Prioritize Cybersecurity This Year

by Jill McKeon

Office for Civil Rights (OCR) director Lisa J. Pino urged healthcare organizations to prioritize cybersecurity in 2022 in a recent blog post on HHS’s website. Healthcare data breaches are still...

Destructive Malware Used to Target Ukraine Poses Threat to Healthcare

by Jill McKeon

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released a joint advisory to warn organizations about HermeticWiper and WhisperGate malware,...

CISA Observes Increased Critical Infrastructure Ransomware Threats

by Jill McKeon

A joint advisory by cybersecurity authorities in the US, Australia, and the United Kingdom underscored increasing critical infrastructure ransomware threats that will likely continue to grow in the...

How to Effectively Communicate Healthcare Cyber Risks to C-Suite Execs

by Jill McKeon

Effectively communicating healthcare cyber risks to C-suite executives is crucial to securing the vital cybersecurity resources needed to combat the multitude of data breaches and cyberattacks that torment the healthcare sector daily. But...

Cyber Insurance Does Not Replace Need For Cybersecurity Program

by Jill McKeon

According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), cyber insurance sales increased from 26 percent in 2016 to 47 percent in 2020. The healthcare and education sectors accounted for a significant...

Unpatched Vulnerabilities Remain Primary Ransomware Attack Vector

by Jill McKeon

Threat actors continually leverage unpatched vulnerabilities as their primary ransomware attack vector, a new report by Ivanti in partnership with Cyware and Cyber Security Works found. Researchers...

HC3: Healthcare Adversaries Are Actively Leveraging Log4j Vulnerabilities

by Jill McKeon

The Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center (HC3) issued a brief outlining the history and current status of the Log4j vulnerabilities, which known healthcare adversaries are actively...

Cyberattacks Increase Mortality Rates, But Healthcare Is In Denial

by Jill McKeon

Joshua Corman, chief strategist of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) COVID task force, urged the healthcare sector to come to terms with the harsh realities of...

Microsoft Warns of Continued Log4j Exploitation Attempts

by Jill McKeon

In an update to a previous blog post, Microsoft warned organizations in early January of continued Log4j exploitation attempts. The tech company urged organizations to remain vigilant and use scanning...

CISA Urges Critical Infrastructure to Prepare For Holiday Cyber Threats

by Jill McKeon

In a recent brief, the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) strongly urged critical infrastructure leaders to take steps to prepare for holiday cyber threats as the end of the year...

Weak Passwords, Poor Cyber Hygiene Invite Healthcare Data Breaches

by Jill McKeon

Poor cyber hygiene and weak passwords leave organizations vulnerable to healthcare data breaches. Almost a third of surveyed IT professionals from a variety of industries reported weak password...

Workforce Burnout Presents Cybersecurity Risks, Report Finds

by Jill McKeon

Pandemic-driven workforce burnout has been detrimental to the mental and physical health of workers across all industries, but a new report from 1Password found that burnout can also lead to increased...

HHS Launches New Website to Align Healthcare Cybersecurity

by Jill McKeon

HHS launched a new website for its 405(d) Program with the goal of aligning healthcare cybersecurity across the industry. Under the Cybersecurity Act of 2015, HHS established the 405(d) Aligning Health...

Top Healthcare Cybersecurity Challenges, How to Overcome Them

by Jill McKeon

From ransomware to COVID-19 struggles to unauthorized disclosure and constant technological innovation, the healthcare sector must always be considering the unique cybersecurity challenges that come along with the ever-changing healthcare...

32% of Healthcare Organizations Have a Comprehensive Security Program

by Jill McKeon

Just 32 percent of surveyed acute and ambulatory care organizations had a comprehensive security program in 2021, according to the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME)...

Insufficient Access Controls Cause Philips MRI Vulnerabilities

by Jill McKeon

Three newly identified low-to-medium severity Philips MRI vulnerabilities may allow unauthorized actors to manipulate software, modify system configurations, and export protected health information...

3 Keys to Third-Party Risk Management at WellSpan Health

by Jill McKeon

Third-party risk management is a crucial tenet of WellSpan Health’s cybersecurity infrastructure. The South-Central Pennsylvania integrated health system engages with thousands of vendors, 30,000 endpoints, and 26,000 users, a fifth...

3 Barriers to Achieving Medical Device Security

by Jill McKeon

Achieving medical device security requires a healthcare organization to have full visibility into how many devices are on its network, regularly patch and replace out-of-date devices, and stay ahead of the latest technical vulnerabilities...

Security Investments Are Increasing, But So Are Cyberattacks

by Jill McKeon

In a survey of over 4,700 executives across a variety of industries including healthcare, Accenture discovered that more than half of large companies are not effectively stopping cyberattacks, finding...

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