Terry Ray, SVP, Data Security GTM, and Field CTO at Imperva, has written an article highlighting the alarming rate of data breaches in healthcare organizations, with 93% experiencing breaches in the past three years, despite compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Healthcare data, particularly medical records, are lucrative for cybercriminals due to their high value on the dark web. The misconception that HIPAA compliance ensures complete security contributes to the problem. Factors like trust in electronic health record systems, reliance on outdated systems, and human errors make healthcare vulnerable. To enhance security, organizations must go beyond HIPAA requirements. This includes implementing robust employee training, strict access controls, and comprehensive monitoring of user activity. Careful vetting of partners and vendors, effective backup and recovery systems, and adopting a holistic approach to security are crucial in today’s complex threat landscape. Simply meeting HIPAA standards is inadequate; a more comprehensive and proactive security strategy is essential for healthcare organizations.
How Does Imperva Help Healthcare Organizations Combrat Breaches?
In doing the research into the trends of breaches in healthcare organizations, Imperva is focused on helping to prevent and mitigate threats in the industry. Here’s a few ways they are doing so:
Imperva’s Proactive Approach
Imperva employs cutting-edge technologies to proactively identify vulnerabilities and shield healthcare organizations from malicious activities. Their Web Application Firewall (WAF) acts as a sentinel, monitoring web traffic and filtering out malicious requests in real-time. By analyzing patterns and behaviors, Imperva’s WAF detects and blocks potential threats before they can exploit vulnerabilities, ensuring that patient data remains impenetrable.
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Solutions
Imperva’s Data Loss Prevention solutions act as custodians of sensitive information, preventing unauthorized access and transmission of confidential patient data. These tools employ advanced algorithms to identify and secure data, ensuring that healthcare organizations comply with regulatory requirements such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) in the United States. By safeguarding data at rest, in transit, and even during sharing, Imperva’s DLP solutions offer comprehensive protection.
Behavior Analytics for Threat Detection
Imperva goes beyond conventional security measures with behavior analytics, which involves analyzing user behavior and network activities to identify abnormal patterns. By detecting deviations from established norms, Imperva’s solutions can pinpoint potential threats, including insider attacks or compromised accounts, enabling healthcare organizations to take swift corrective action.
Incident Response and Remediation
In the unfortunate event of a breach, Imperva provides healthcare organizations with swift and effective incident response tools. These enable organizations to contain the breach, investigate the incident thoroughly, and implement necessary remediation measures promptly. By minimizing the dwell time of attackers within the network, Imperva reduces the potential damage and accelerates the recovery process.
