Health Records and Histories are critical data for healthcare. So, Hospitals should invest in good data backup in healthcare to prevent ransomware attacks.
It’s also crucial to have complete histories of each patient because you never know when something new will come up, but hackers can get access too if there isn’t enough security at your hospitalization center- which means everyone needs a good backup solution to protect a potential data loss or paying ransom for a data loss. So, data backup in Healthcare can make or break your response to Ransomware.
Healthcare organizations should always be on top of their game, and one way to ensure that they are ready for any emergency situation is by investing in reliable backup solutions. If you lose data or have an updated plan miss its deadline because something went wrong during the process then there will likely never be another opportunity like this again which means lost revenue from patients who might return back into treatment only after being told everything was okay last time around when it turned out differently now what?
What is Ransowmare?
Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts your data and demands a ransom for the decryption key. This type of ransomware attack can be devastating for healthcare organizations, as it can lead to disruptions in patient care and loss of confidential data.
In most cases, paying ransom does not guarantee full recovery of data.
No matter how big or small your healthcare organization is, data backup in healthcare is crucial to your success. In the event of a ransomware attack, having a robust data backup plan can mean the difference between a quick recovery and a long, drawn-out process.
An effective strategy for data backup in healthcare is especially important as they may be targeted by ransomware. By having secure backups of your data, you can ensure that you will always have a copy of your data even if your primary system is compromised.
Instead of paying a ransom, you can rely on data backups in Healthcare to get your data back.
The CyberPeace Institute has released new data on cyberattacks in the healthcare industry. According to the latest figures, 295 cyberattacks are known to have been conducted on the healthcare sector in 18 months between June 2, 2020, and December 3, 2021. The attacks have been occurring at a rate of 3.8 per week and have occurred in 35 countries. 165 attacks were confirmed ransomware attacks and another 98 were suspected of involving ransomware.
In a 2021 survey conducted by 597 health delivery organizations (HDOs), 42% had faced two ransomware attacks in the past couple of years.
After all, ransomware attacks undermine health care organization’s mission of providing their patients with timely care. Consider the following findings from the Ponemon study:
- Nearly three-quarters (71%) of respondents reported that a successful cyber attack had resulted in longer stay lengths for patients
- About the same proportion said that ransomware attacks had created delays in medical procedures and tests that resulted in poor outcomes for patients who needed them
- Slightly fewer (65%) said that the attacks had yielded an increase in the number of patients diverted to or transferred to other facilities
- More than a quarter (36%) of respondents had witnessed an increase in complications from medical procedures following a ransomware attack
- About a fifth said cyberattacks had increased their patients’ mortality rate.
Strategy for Data Backup in Healthcare
Do, keep these in mind when planning a strategy for data backup in Healthcare organizations.
- Make sure you have multiple copies of your data
At a minimum, you should have two copies: one on-site and one off-site. A typical cloud backup strategy helps achieve this. Keep one local copy and at least one cloud copy. You can opt for multiple cloud copies as well to doubly protect yourself.
- Use a variety of media for your data backup in healthcare
This could include external hard drives, USB flash drives, CDs/DVDs, or even online backup services. Cloud copy goes out of your network so an attack on your network does not touch your backups.
- Test your backups regularly
Do data backup in Healthcare on a regular basis to ensure that it is working properly. This helps you to be ready with the right procedures at the time of disaster and be more confident about your backups.
- Keep your backups secure
Make sure that your backups are stored in a secure location that is not accessible to unauthorized individuals. Look for cloud backup in healthcare options that do support multi-factor authentication so that even a password loss does not let someone delete your backups.
- Have a plan for how you will restore your data if it is lost or corrupted
This includes having the necessary software and hardware required for restoration. A good idea could be to keep the UAT servers ready to be promoted to production in the event of a hardware failure in production.
- Have the integrity of your backup tested regularly
Look for a service provider/solution which performs regular consistency checks on the data stored so that corrupted backups (if any) are segregated immediately.
- Manage & monitor your backups well
Review your storage usage patterns and bandwidth consumption. A sudden increase in data size should be closely monitored to see if encrypted files are getting backed up.
- Scan your backups for possible threats
A good backup solution should provide a facility to scan through its own processes. Scan the backup packets during backups so that infected data is not backed up. Scan the storage repository for zero-day explosion and monitor it against the latest threats developed post-backups. Ensure that data is scanned during restorations so that an infected packet does not get recovered and re-infect your network.
Also Read: Best Practices for Healthcare Data Backup & Recovery
By following these guidelines, you can ensure that you have a robust data backup strategy to protect your Healthcare organization from ransomware attacks.
By following these guidelines, you can ensure that you have a robust data backup strategy to protect your Healthcare organization from ransomware attacks.
Tags : Data Backup in Healthcare
Category: Data Backup, Healthcare, Ransomware
