A healthcare data breach happens when sensitive information is exposed without permission. This is damaging to any organization and is especially true when you consider HIPAA and other compliance regulations for the healthcare industry.
In this article, we’ll discuss how to prevent data breaches, and how you can protect your organization’s integrity, data, and safety.
How To Prevent Data Leakage
Let’s look at some common threats and then discuss ways to prevent data breaches:
1. Phishing
Phishing is the art of emulating another entity or individual to extract information or access it. A typical phishing attack may involve pretending to be a financial institution, for instance.
Once the member of your healthcare company clicks on a link in an email, malicious code is installed in the background. Preventing data breaches like this means you need to have proper employee training and software that helps identify/manage risks and assess your network in real-time.
2. Compromised Accounts
If a cybercriminal somehow accesses an account without authorization, it can be devastating. They can move laterally within your IT infrastructure if you aren’t proactive about preventing and identifying data breaches.
Allowing a bad actor access to data, applications, files, documents, and patient records would be detrimental to an organization.
Proper account and access management are some of the controls needed to prevent this from happening.
3. Escalating Privileges
Once a criminal is inside your network, they can do something called escalating a privilege. In other words, this allows them to access deeper levels of your IT network.
Ultimately, they can perform actions within the cyber network granting them unlimited access and administration.
This level of access should be reserved for IT professionals or your technology staff using the minimum necessary requirement as a guideline.
4. Extracting Data
If a healthcare provider’s data falls into the wrong hands, it can result in high-dollar fines and reputational harm.
How To Prevent Security Breaches
Understanding where you’re at risk in your organization is key. Maintaining alerts, checklists, tasks, and project management should all be easy with risk management software.
Healthcare risk management software can assist in addressing a majority of issues that cause data breaches. It allows you to generate detailed report summaries and track progress in real-time.
You can also review your networks, data storage locations, and analyze your business associates, which is required by HIPAA.
Summary – How Can Companies Prevent Data Breaches?
When it comes to breach prevention best practices, the right software is paramount. Arrange a demo with ComplyAssistant today. Understand how to create surveys, manage documentation, track internal/external risk analysis, and ultimately strive towards a robust compliance architecture.
Implementing healthcare risk management software allows an organization to spend more time focusing on patient care and less time worrying about risk management.