How Healthcare Organizations and Consumers Can Help Fight Cyberattacks

Cyberattacks have been in the news recently and organizations and their consumers are paying attention. To combat these threats, many organizations are looking to invest in security measures to protect themselves against bad actors. Recent threats pulled from news headlines describe the horror of bad actors stealing data or forcing a cease in business with demands of ransom to restore them. These media stories have highlighted the need for consumers and businesses to reduce the chance for criminals to compromise online channels. Let’s explore what actions can be taken by everyone to safeguard digital experiences.   

How Consumers Can Help

In a digital age where consumers conduct more personal business online than ever before, proactive credential management and situational awareness are critical.  Consumers should be vigilant about keeping strong passwords and recovery processes updated and secure. Studies have found that 67% of data breaches are due to compromised credentials and most often related to password attacks.¹ In addition to credential management, consumers need to be vigilant in their awareness of online phishing scams utilizing social engineering; especially during tax season and holidays, when there is increasing evidence of these cybercriminal activities. A recent Microsoft report explored how bad actors specifically impersonate tax payment processors during tax season and target groups that may be less informed about government tax procedures.²  

These are just a few examples of cybercrimes aimed at consumers. Consumers must protect themselves by keeping their devices updated with the latest software and anti-virus protection, maintaining strong password practices, and reporting suspicious emails or phone calls^.3  Ultimately, consumers with compromised data and/or credentials can open the door for cyber attacks against organizations as well, which is why organizations must invest in securing their digital front door.  

How Organizations Can Help

Today, healthcare organizations have a lot to lose in cyberattacks and go to great lengths to ensure their digital platforms are secured. However, with so many different security strategies out there, what should organizations prioritize? The ideal strategy embraces a proactive, rather than reactive approach to bad actors and hackers⁴. Reactive measures move businesses to mitigate cyberattacks and restore systems quickly to ‘normal’ function after an incident because it’s too late for prevention- the attack has already happened. The cost of mitigation is crippling for organizations; not only are they paying to restore functions-including hefty ransom payments – they may face loss of consumer trust and brand reputation⁵. The better approach is a proactive strategy, which requires awareness of existing cyber threats and using that awareness to create a plan to protect systems and users. The evolving technology landscape and constant threats that exist today are driving organizations to partner with data and technology vendors that specialize in identifying cyber threats across industries to detect and thwart attacks.  

Today’s most advanced proactive solutions provide digital front door security that still allows consumers to easily conduct their healthcare activities online. We know that most consumers won’t return to a website if they have a bad experience, which eliminates the benefits of healthcare portals⁶. Enabling digital front door security measures that assess and monitor risk to apply appropriate security measures- without disrupting consumer experience- is the future of cyberattack combat.

Learn More

If your healthcare organization is interested in identity verification capabilities that balance security and consumer experience, learn how LexisNexis® Risk Solutions can help.

Endnotes:

1. https://www.tripwire.com/state-of-security/most-common-website-security-attacks-and-how-to-protect-yourself
2. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2024/03/20/microsoft-threat-intelligence-unveils-targets-and-innovative-tactics-amidst-tax-season/
3. https://usa.kaspersky.com/resource-center/threats/what-is-cybercrime
4. https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/tip/How-to-develop-a-cybersecurity-strategy-Step-by-step-guide
5. https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/100296-66-of-consumers-would-not-trust-a-company-following-a-data-breach
6. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/software/website-statistics/