The use of conventional methods of securing information (such as antivirus software, firewalls, and other solutions) is applicable but might not be enough to identify and respond to modern-day threats. Managed IT services for healthcare could play a certain role in the cybersecurity framework of any healthcare organization, giving them the ability to constantly monitor their cybersecurity threats and respond.
Does every healthcare organization need MDR? It depends on several factors.
Why Healthcare Has Become a Prime Target for Cyberattacks
Healthcare organizations make attractive targets as they possess significant amounts of valuable information. Patient history may include names, addresses, insurance information, medical history, financial information, and other sensitive information.
Healthcare relies heavily on technology, from patient portals and remote access to connected devices and electronic health records, creating multiple entry points for attackers.
What Is Managed Detection and Response (MDR)?
Managed Detection and Response (MDR) continuously monitors systems for suspicious activity, combining advanced technology with human security expertise.
An MDR provider isn’t just notified when something amiss occurs; instead, they can provide assistance in the investigation and ultimately decide if it constitutes a threat or not.
Depending on the service, MDR could be:
- 24/7 security monitoring
- Threat detection and investigation
- Endpoint monitoring
- Security alert analysis
- Threat hunting
- Incident investigation
- Containment and response assistance
- Security reporting
The objective is to detect a threat as soon as possible and respond to it accordingly, before a threat is able to do any severe damage.
Why Traditional Healthcare Security Often Falls Short
The average cost of a healthcare data breach is $7.42 million. While traditional security tools will play a significant role, healthcare organizations can face serious challenges when there are more security alerts than they can investigate. Healthcare IT teams juggle clinical systems, staff support, devices, and daily technical issues, leaving data security at risk.
Key Benefits of MDR for Healthcare Organizations
Continuous monitoring is one of the biggest benefits of managed detection and response in healthcare. Constant surveillance will be able to help detect suspicious activities during hours when there are no on-site workers.
MDR can additionally offer:
- Earlier detection of threats: Suspicious activity can be studied in real time and not many days or weeks later after a detection event.
- Expert analysis: Security professionals can tell a potentially threatening alarm from a typical alarm.
- Better incident response: Organizations can have systems in place to mitigate and investigate threats.
- Lower stress on IT staff: People inside the healthcare organization can concentrate on technology and business operations, with security experts taking care of monitoring.
- Improved visibility: MDR can provide insight into what is occurring at the endpoints, throughout the network(s), and other systems.
- Better security level: Ongoing surveillance can detect various security issues and vulnerabilities.
MDR can then be integrated with an MDM service, linking into an existing IT program in managed services provided by a healthcare cybersecurity vendor like Cyber Husky, and bring in extra specialized knowledge to the program.
Do You Actually Need MDR? Key Signs to Consider
Not all organizations are the same about cybersecurity backing. A variety of indicators illustrate whether MDR for healthcare should be considered or not, however.
Your organization could benefit from MDR if:
- Your IT team is unable to monitor everything around security issues.
- You have valuable patient data that you don’t intend to let go.
- You depend extensively on the use of applications in the cloud and connected devices.
- Your security system produces a high volume of alerts that you are unable to track down.
Thus, MDR should also be explored by organisations that are likely to suffer serious tangible consequences from a successful cyber-compromise that exceed the costs of paying for MDR.
Which Healthcare Organizations Benefit Most from MDR?
Smaller and mid-sized medical practices often lack the budget and resources for in-house security teams. Healthcare MDR gives them access to security expertise without the need to build their own infrastructure.
Laboratories, behavioral health providers, pharmacies, and even those in the healthcare tech industry that handle sensitive data or deployment systems that need high availability can also benefit in this regard.
Conclusion
While traditional security tools provide some form of response capabilities to threats and breaches, MDR can offer organizations ongoing monitoring, threat analysis, and response capabilities. It’s especially important for organisations that don’t have any people to be specifically looking into cybersecurity or cannot in any way keep an eye on their surroundings all day and every day.
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