In a world where health tech solutions are increasingly central to medical advancements, safeguarding sensitive data is paramount. Insights from CEOs and a Cyber Security Consultant offer a wealth of knowledge on this critical issue. This article begins by exploring how to empower employees with security training and concludes with strategies for managing medical devices with active inventory, covering eight expert insights in total. Discover actionable measures that can protect against data breaches and ensure the integrity of health tech systems.
- Empower Employees with Security Training
- Implement Proactive and Layered Security Measures
- Prioritize HIPAA Compliance and Security Tools
- Centralize Data Access Through Secure APIs
- Utilize Data Loss Prevention Solutions
- Adopt Comprehensive Cybersecurity Measures
- Manage Medical Devices with Active Inventory
- Train Teams on New Technology Usage
Empower Employees with Security Training
Healthcare data security demands proactive measures that empower employees to recognize and prevent threats effectively. We place strong emphasis on thorough, ongoing training that covers the essential areas healthcare teams need: identifying security threats, handling data responsibly, and adhering to HIPAA and PHI regulations. This approach ensures that staff members understand the importance of each action they take, from securing passwords to recognizing phishing attacks, which directly contributes to safeguarding sensitive patient information.
In my experience, a healthcare client of ours faced a critical situation when an employee nearly fell victim to a phishing scam. Because this employee had recently completed one of our security training sessions, they recognized the suspicious nature of the email and reported it immediately. This quick response prevented what could have been a costly breach, and it highlighted how empowering employees with the right skills can make a tangible difference. In this case, training and awareness turned a potential breach into a learning experience, underscoring the importance of regular, realistic simulations and skill-building for every team member.
To support security at all levels, we recommend maintaining vigilance through continuous learning and fostering a culture where every staff member feels accountable for data safety. Encouraging employees to engage in routine security simulations keeps these skills fresh and instills a culture of awareness. By keeping everyone on the lookout for threats—whether from external phishing attempts or internal access control lapses—we’ve seen organizations not only prevent breaches but also create a safer, more confident environment for handling healthcare data securely.
Elmo Taddeo
CEO, Parachute
Implement Proactive and Layered Security Measures
Mitigating data breach risks in health tech requires a proactive and layered security approach. Start with robust encryption for sensitive data, both in transit and at rest, ensuring compliance with regulations like GDPR or HIPAA.
Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) to protect user accounts and adopt least privilege access to limit the exposure of sensitive information. Regularly conduct security audits, vulnerability assessments, and penetration testing to identify and address potential weaknesses.
One critical case was the 2015 breach at Anthem, where over 78 million records were compromised due to a phishing attack. If MFA and least privilege access controls had been in place, the attackers’ ability to escalate privileges and access sensitive data could have been significantly reduced.
Tip: Always prioritize ongoing employee training on recognizing phishing and other social engineering attacks, as human error often opens the door to breaches.
Chinyelu Karibi-Whyte
Cyber Security Consultant, Cyb-Uranus Limited
Prioritize HIPAA Compliance and Security Tools
One of the areas we focus on is reducing the likelihood of data breaches related to healthcare technology solutions. We highly advise organizations in the healthcare domain to prioritize Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPAA) Compliance.
We must ensure the following:
- Robust Data Encryption Methodologies: AES-256 and TLS/SSL-based encryption to ensure data is safe at rest and when in transit.
- Strong Access Controls: Ensure that Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) are present.
- Regular Security Audits and Penetration Testing: VAPT audits, compliance revalidations, and simulation drills at regular intervals.
- Employee Training and Awareness: As most data breaches happen due to human error, security awareness programs and drills are the most effective way to complete the same.
- Incident Response Plan: To have a proper incident response plan so that we can act in case of emergency.
- Data Usage: Collect only necessary data and also have a strong data retention and scrapping policy.
- Third-Party Risk Management: Ensuring self-compliance is not enough in the modern world as most recent data breaches have happened due to third-party non-compliance.
Case Study:
A data breach at Anthem, a health insurance provider, exposed millions of members’ private information affecting the lives of around 75 million people.
Malicious emails were used by hackers to infiltrate Anthem’s computer networks. Several Anthem brands were impacted by the hack, including Anthem Blue Cross, Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia.
Following the breach, the corporation had to pay hefty recovery costs. Anthem is thought to have lost around $260 million as a result of the incident; in fact, they also received widespread criticism from its members, the media, and security experts after the breach.
It was evident from their case study that employee training, data security, compliance, and proper security tools and mechanisms need to be implemented by all businesses.
Sovik S
Chief Operating Officer, IEMLabs
Centralize Data Access Through Secure APIs
Mitigating the risks of data breaches in health tech solutions requires a proactive and focused approach, given the sensitivity of the data involved. Health records and other personal health information are high-value targets for attackers, making their protection a top priority. A highly effective strategy to address this is centralizing all data access through APIs—referred to as “data APIs”—and securing them with robust observability and analytics.
Centralizing access through APIs ensures that no system, user, or application can interact directly with data repositories. Every interaction passes through controlled and monitored APIs, enabling consistent policy enforcement, simplified audits, and a reduced attack surface. This setup eliminates potential vulnerabilities from direct access routes while ensuring all data requests are logged and traceable.
API security is paramount to this strategy. Authentication and authorization, such as OAuth 2.0 and fine-grained access controls, ensure that only authorized users can access specific data. Encryption protects data in transit and at rest, while input validation guards against injection attacks. Rate limiting and throttling prevent abuse, ensuring even legitimate users cannot overburden the system or exploit it.
Observability and analytics complement security by tracking and understanding API access patterns in real time. Monitoring tools log each API call, detailing who accessed what data, when, and from where. Suspicious activities, such as unexpected access volumes or anomalous usage patterns, trigger alerts for rapid investigation. Protective analytics further enhances this by automatically identifying risks based on behavioral patterns and implementing predefined responses, such as throttling access or revoking credentials.
In one instance, a health tech platform for remote patient monitoring benefited from these measures. By centralizing data access through APIs and implementing observability and analytics, the organization identified and halted an unauthorized integration attempt before any sensitive data was accessed. These defenses ensured compliance and built trust with users by safeguarding their information.
For businesses looking to adopt these measures, starting with an API-first architecture is crucial. By focusing on centralized, secure, and observable APIs, health tech companies can mitigate risks, ensure regulatory compliance, and deliver safe, innovative healthcare solutions.
Asanka Abeysinghe
CTO, WSO2
Utilize Data Loss Prevention Solutions
Preventing data breaches in health tech requires a structured approach that integrates advanced technology, user education, and continuous monitoring. Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solutions play a critical role here. These solutions provide visibility into data flows, block unauthorized transfers, and empower users through real-time educational prompts that reinforce secure handling of sensitive information. And DLP solutions that include strong encryption and compliance tools ensure that sensitive data remains protected even in the event of interception.
One notable example involved Fortra’s Managed Service Provider detecting multiple attempts to transfer patient records to personal email accounts at a healthcare organization. The DLP solution flagged these activities immediately, issued educational prompts to the users involved, and enforced the organization’s security protocols. Within weeks, this approach reduced risky behaviors by over 60%, protecting patient data and reinforcing compliance standards.
Adam Burns
Director of Cybersecurity, Fortra
Adopt Comprehensive Cybersecurity Measures
The healthcare industry is a prime target for cyberattacks due to the sensitive nature of patient data. There have already been more than 350+ data breaches in 2024 that include data-theft crimes and ransomware attacks. To mitigate the risks of data breaches associated with health tech solutions, we all must consider the following proactive measures that we have applied for our hospital:
- Implement robust access controls using a well configured IAM solution, including multi-factor authentication and role-based access to limit unauthorized access.
- Encrypt sensitive data both at rest and in transit to protect it from unauthorized access. Just the SSL won’t help anymore.
- Utilize strong firewalls to filter incoming and outgoing network traffic, preventing unauthorized access. This can be done in tandem with the hardware firewall at the perimeter and software firewall at the endpoints.
- Deploy IDS to monitor network traffic for signs of malicious activity and alert security teams.
- Conduct regular vulnerability assessments to identify and address security weaknesses. The regularity should be at least a quarter and one must invest in a good GRC solution to capture all of this so it doesn’t get missed.
- Simulate attacks to uncover potential vulnerabilities and improve security posture. Aim to get a third party consultant who will always provide you a different POV and a detailed narrative about cybersecurity best practices, such as recognizing phishing attempts and avoiding weak passwords.
- Conduct regular training sessions to keep employees updated on the latest threats and security measures.
Preparedness: Develop a comprehensive incident response plan outlining steps to be taken in case of a data breach.
By incorporating these lessons and implementing the recommended proactive measures, healthcare organizations can bolster their defenses against cyber threats and safeguard patient privacy. The Indian Healthcare ecosystem is also evolving and the government is also rolling out policies and procedures which force the providers to take a more serious look into the security aspects of the data they record about patients.
Manage Medical Devices with Active Inventory
Over the past several years, healthcare organizations, such as hospital systems, have become more frequent targets of malicious cyber actors. These organizations are ideal targets due to the vast data repositories they manage, and the large technical footprints required to operate their businesses. Most hospital systems today have a plethora of devices operating on their network, such as medical devices. These medical devices can take several forms and vary widely in both their purposes and the type of software used to operate them.
To proactively manage medical technology devices, there are several steps that system administrators and cyber security professionals should take to reduce the likelihood and risk that a breach will occur.
The first step is to maintain an active inventory of all devices on the corporate network. After all, if you don’t know it’s there, how can you secure it? Secondly, it’s important to ensure that medical devices are appropriately segmented from the network. In an ideal state, micro-segmentation of these devices would ensure that the connectivity between these devices and the network conforms to the Principles of Least Privilege (PoLP).
Depending on the operating system running on the medical devices in scope, it’s ideal to deploy the appropriate endpoint protection system to these devices for ongoing protection as well as telemetry data; however, that’s not possible with all devices running with embedded systems. Finally, vulnerability assessments for these devices are crucial to understanding the ports and protocols that these devices have open, as well as any misconfigurations of the software that may put the device at risk of extended exposure.
James Cassata
Cloud Security Architect, Myriad360
Train Teams on New Technology Usage
Many times the data breaches occur with the introduction of new technology and this is why we train our people as to what is the correct use of our new digital formats in order to mitigate those risks. New technologies such as online office platforms and private messaging apps can provide a wonderful communication tool for your team, but they can also produce a false sense of security as hackers are always looking for ways to breach these systems.
Therefore, we train our team in the proper use of these technologies and what types of digital files, information transfers, and communications are appropriate and stay within our mandated security protocols. We also make sure they can recognize unusual activity. It is by training our team in the use of new technologies before implementing them, that we mitigate risks and maintain our compliance.
Robert Applebaum
CEO & Plasitic Surgeon, ApplebaumMD.com
