Hackers targeting third-party business associates and outpatient facilities
With the holiday season fast approaching, we must all remain vigilant against online dangers that can lead to cyberattacks. During these times, Hackers look to take advantage of end-of-year stress. Don’t let your guard down and fall victim to any of the following tactics:
- Phony emails, text messages or holiday ecards that contain malicious links and attachments.
- Requests for fraudulent charity donations over the web, text and phone calls.
- Fake online shopping, package tracking and delivery websites, too good to be true deals and alerts.
These risks to healthcare organizations are increasing. Hackers are also increasingly targeting third-party business associates and outpatient facilities. An Ohio hospital system was recently attacked and is still feeling the effects to patient care. As a result of the attack, patient care has been impacted by their electronic medical record being unavailable, which causes the inability to access a patient’s history, and led to canceled office visits, rescheduled procedures, ambulance diversion and not to mention the loss of revenue and trust from the community caused by the bad press.
At Beaumont, we have technology in place to keep us safe, such as identity confirmation, virus scanners, spam email filters and more, but hackers’ techniques continuously evolve. As presented at the recent cybersecurity roadshows, know how you can do your part to stay safe online, such as do not use your work laptop, computer or other devices for personal needs.
Security is everyone’s job. As always, thank you for your diligence in keeping Beaumont and the patients and families we serve safe against cyber threats.
- Geeta Kapoor, IT vice president and chief information security officer