Cyber Awareness
In 2017, a worm tried to devour the Internet. The WannaCry ransomware cryptoworm targeted computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system by encrypting data and demanding ransom payments in the Bitcoin cryptocurrency. The WannaCry ransomware cryptoworm infected hundreds of thousands of computers on a massive, global scale, including many healthcare organizations.
“Cyberattacks in 2017 provided some extremely valuable lessons learned for hospital systems,” said Terry Moon, assistant vice president of strategic sourcing, IT and cybersecurity for HealthTrust. “Namely, it provided a view into the weakest spots of the hospital networks and forced many healthcare systems to reevaluate their security posture, disaster recovery procedures and user education policies. The awareness of having good backups (segmented to be isolated from infection), having documented and tested response protocols, and possibly the most important, providing user education about phishing scams and social engineering techniques became priorities.”
The Journal of Healthcare Contracting (JHC) spoke to several industry stakeholders about cybersecurity trends, including best practices, developing a security strategy, screening for the best products and services, and the supply chain’s role in preventing or responding to cyberattacks.