Most healthcare pros believe their organizations adequately protect patient data

Most of the healthcare professionals polled remain confident regarding their own organization’s cyber security protocols despite apprehensions connected with their own healthcare information and general healthcare infrastructure, according to a Venafi survey querying 122 healthcare professionals at the HIMSS18 conference in Las Vegas.

In fact, seventy-nine percent said they are concerned about the cyber security of their own healthcare information. At the same time, sixty-eight percent believe their organizations are doing enough to adequately protect patient privacy and personal information from cyber attackers.

Additional findings from the survey include:

• Eighty-seven percent of respondents are concerned that the reliability and availability of critical healthcare infrastructure could be compromised by cyber attacks.
• Respondents were conflicted about the role of cyber security regulation. A third (thirty-three percent) of the respondents believe there is too much cyber security regulation in the health care industry and twenty-nine percent feel there is not enough regulation.
• Seventy-six percent of respondents believe government-mandated backdoors into encryption technology could harm the privacy and personal information of patients.

“It’s very clear healthcare professionals are deeply concerned about the protection of their own healthcare data,” said Nick Hunter, senior manager of threat intelligence for Venafi. “Unfortunately, cyber attacks spread just like infectious diseases; attackers target victims with weak security hygiene, adapt quickly and have learned to use security defenses to hide malicious activities in plain sight. It’s going to take a concerted effort across the healthcare industry to improve cyber security outcomes.”