68 percent of healthcare professionals believe their organizations are doing enough to protect patient data

Venafi, the leading provider of machine identity protection, announced the results of a survey querying 122 healthcare professionals on sector response to cyber threats. The survey was conducted March 5-9, 2018 at the HIMSS18 conference in Las Vegas.

According to the survey, most of the healthcare professionals polled remain confident regarding their own organization’s cyber security protocols despite apprehensions connected with their own healthcare information and general healthcare infrastructure. In fact, seventy-nine percent said they are concerned about the cyber security of their own healthcare information. At the same time, sixty-eight percent believe their organizations are doing enough to protect patient privacy and personal information from cyber attackers.

Additional findings from the survey include:

* Eighty-seven percent of respondents are concerned that the reliability and availability of critical healthcare infrastructure could be compromised by cyber attacks.

* Respondents were conflicted about the role of cyber security regulation. A third (33 percent) of the respondents believe there is too much cyber security regulation in the healthcare industry, and 29 percent feel there is not enough regulation.

* Seventy-six percent of respondents believe government-mandated backdoors into encryption technology could harm the privacy and personal information of patients.

“It’s very clear healthcare professionals are deeply concerned about the protection of their own healthcare data,” said Nick Hunter, senior manager of threat intelligence for Venafi. “Unfortunately, cyber attacks spread just like infectious diseases; attackers target victims with weak security hygiene, adapt quickly and have learned to use security defenses to hide malicious activities in plain sight. It’s going to take a concerted effort across the healthcare industry to improve cyber security outcomes.”