By Anatoly Podstrelov, Global Head of IT and Security, EDETEK, Inc.
LinkedIn: Anatoly Podstrelov
LinkedIn: EDETEK, Inc.
Healthcare data security refers to the practices, technologies, and policies used to protect health-related information from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. This includes securing both digital and physical forms of data and encompasses a broad range of data types, from patient medical records to research data.
Healthcare data security protects sensitive patient information, including personal identification details, medical histories, and financial information. Safeguarding this data helps maintain patient privacy, builds trust in healthcare systems, and complies with legal and ethical standards.
Impact of healthcare cybersecurity has significantly increased due to the higher adoption rates of digital health records, increased data sharing among healthcare providers, and growing threats from hackers. The COVID-19 pandemic also highlighted the need for more robust data security as healthcare providers rapidly shifted to digital platforms, thereby increasing the potential attack surface for cyber threats.
Life science companies implement healthcare data security measures through a variety of methods:
- Encryption: Encrypting data at rest and in transit to ensure that it is unreadable to unauthorized users.
- Access Controls: Implementing strict access controls and authentication measures, including the use of biometrics and multi-factor authentication limits data access to authorized personnel only.
- Data Integrity: Ensuring data integrity through regular audits and using technologies like blockchain to secure data transactions help maintain data integrity and secure data transactions.
- Employee Training: Regularly training employees on data security best practices and awareness of phishing and other cyber threats. This proactive approach not only helps in preventing breaches but also empowers employees to act as the first line of defense against cyber threats.
Constant Vigilance
Biopharma innovators should possess cutting-edge clinical technology solutions and services customized for life science, medical devices and CRO companies. Intellectual property from these biopharma and life science companies can be attractive to nefarious groups seeking to steal this valuable data.
Data security providers should implement cutting-edge cybersecurity measures, continuously updating strategies to counter evolving threats. Best practices demand a proactive approach that can identify and neutralize thousands of potential security incidents in near real time.
Understanding the nuances of various international laws and regulations distinguishes the good from the best. These regulations ensure that healthcare data security is maintained across different jurisdictions, adapting to the evolving nature of healthcare delivery and technology. Each region’s focus is to safeguard patient information while adapting to the global digital transformation in healthcare.
Further, great data security implementation requires the ability to keep pace with changing regulations across the globe and keep pace with ever changing tactics from criminal hackers. The consequences of data breaches can result in fines, lawsuits and worse. Some hackers demand ransom to release stolen data.
This environment of increasing cyber threats demands that companies and organizations managing sensitive and valuable healthcare data must ensure that data transfer mechanisms are compliant with the latest legal requirements. This includes conducting regular reviews of data transfer agreements, implementing the necessary technical and organizational measures to protect data, and staying informed about the legal and regulatory changes that affect cross-border data transfers.
Many of our partners utilize robust cloud-native AWS-based SaaS solutions tailored to enhance healthcare data security. Maintaining AWS Partner status, being AWS well-architected and AWS FTR (Foundational Technical Review)-approved signifies that solutions are built on secure, high-performing, resilient, and efficient infrastructure principles.
The integration of advanced security measures is mandatory in today’s life science and biopharma industries. These systems must stay ahead of those organizations wishing to steal or corrupt your valuable data. These systems must also secure patient data integrity and deliver these services within the evolving international regulatory policy environment.