Cybersecurity breaches continue to plague healthcare organizations. Every month, new horror stories about patient data being compromised hit the headlines. Despite this, and the evolving regulations in healthcare, the fact remains that the industry is still behind the curve when it comes to cybersecurity.

We’ve decided to take a closer look at the top threat actions that are causing these healthcare data breaches and how a modern identity and access management (IAM) solution can help. So far in our series, we’ve covered social engineering and malware attacks. 

In terms of the traditional security structure, the cloud has changed everything— its pushed the perimeter boundaries outside the organization’s four walls. With the soft perimeter of a hybrid environment, comes the complexity of additional tools and analytics that are needed to achieve the same level of visibility as with traditional edge security devices.

With over 120,000 schools in the United States, it is easy to think that your district can hide safely in the noise or that among the pack, your schools are safe. While this mindset that cyber criminals have “bigger fish to fry” may give you some peace of mind, the facts instead point to a rise in cyber attacks targeting organizations exactly like yours.

Often times, healthcare organizations have point solutions to address critical areas, but are still concerned about their broader security needs.

Recently, we headed to the quaint town of Georgetown, Texas for the annual TX CTO Summer Clinic 2019, a two-day conference hosted by the Texas K12 CTO Council chapter. Created in 2003 by Texas school district Chief Technology Officers (CTOs), the Texas K12 CTO Council was the first chapter of the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), a leading professional association for technology leaders in school districts. 

Over the past 10 years, the healthcare industry has experienced a drastic rise in cyberattacks and data breaches. The number of reported healthcare-related data breaches has consistently grown every year since the Department of Health and Human Services began tracking breaches in 2009—and 2018 was no different.

In early May, the city of Baltimore was hit by a massive ransomware attack which crippled city employees and residents from their day-to-day tasks for weeks, ultimately costing millions in taxpayer dollars. Ransomware, a type of malware or malicious software that weaponizes encryption, is used by hackers to first encrypt data on a victim’s machine, blocking access to a computer system or service.

With constantly evolving security and compliance regulations, it may seem impossible for healthcare organizations to sustain a high level of security, while also ensuring quick, efficient access to systems and data.

Last month, our top Identity and Access Management (IAM) experts escaped the Texas heat and traveled to Albany, New York for the 22nd Annual New York State (NYS) Cyber Security Conference.

*Disclaimer: This article originally appeared in EmergingEdTech, Administrative Solutions posts. 

School districts throughout the country rely on technology today more than ever before. At many districts, laptops and tablets are standard-issue equipment for students as young as second grade-level, and they must be compatible with campus networks as well as in the home.