Healthcare is one of the most targeted industries for cyber-attacks. A security risk assessment is an important part of protecting your organization against data breaches and other malicious attacks. In this blog post, we will discuss the components of a security risk assessment and how to conduct one for your healthcare organization.
What is a Security Risk Assessment?
A security risk assessment is a process of analyzing security risks within an organization. The security risk assessment document identifies security vulnerabilities, threats, and impacts on the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of electronically protected health information (ePHI).
It can be an overwhelming task because it requires deep knowledge of several aspects of information security beyond just one area such as firewall configuration or system hardening. Risk assessments require expertise in many areas including:
- Security Architecture/Design
- Threats and Vulnerabilities
- Business Impact Analysis (BIA)
- Risk Management
- Controls Identification and Prioritization
- Information Security Program Development and Management
- Third-Party Security Assessments
What information should a security risk assessment cover?
A security risk analysis should focus on identifying and mitigating risks that could lead to data breaches, loss of patient records, security breaches, or security violations. There are several components that your organization should include in security risk analysis including:
- Physical security of medical equipment
- Security procedures and policies within the organization
- Business continuity plan (BCP)
- Data encryption policy
- Patching/OS security controls
- User permissions & access controls
- Disaster recovery plan (DRP)
Why is a Risk Assessment Important in Healthcare?
It is important to conduct security risk analysis in healthcare because there are massive quantities of patient information that organizations need to protect. Data security regulations such as HIPAA, HITECH, and GDPR have increased security regulations that healthcare organizations are responsible for upholding. Conducting security risk analysis will help your organization identify security controls that they should implement or improve. It can create a synergistic effect where security analysts across an entire organization value building security into the medical equipment they use every day instead of just using it to meet compliance requirements.
Security Risk Assessment for Healthcare Organizations
Attackers target healthcare organizations for a variety of reasons including:
- Patient records hold personal data providing an opportunity for lucrative extortion schemes.
- Patients have high credit limits providing an opportunity for fraud schemes.
- Health care facilities also hold other valuable equipment or materials such as drugs or medical technology that attackers can resell or use in further criminal activity.
How do I conduct a Security Risk Analysis?
There are 4 components to conducting a security risk assessment at your organization: Threats, Vulnerabilities, Assets & Controls.
Threats
The security risks that your organization faces. Threats include internal threats such as an uneducated employee unintentionally exposing your network to security risks and external threats such as a hacker looking to infiltrate the system and steal personal data or medical records.
Vulnerabilities
The security weaknesses in your operation, policies, people, and technology expose you to security risks. For example, hackers can exploit out-of-date software if they know there are security vulnerabilities in the software. This also includes any security weaknesses in your employees such as lack of training or awareness or poor knowledge of security practices (e.g., not changing default passwords). Most importantly, any points where unauthorized access could occur (for example, doorways with security alarms that are not working properly).
Assets
Organizational assets such as firewalls, security software, security policies, and security awareness training. Assets include anything that has value to your organization and hackers can target via a security risk. For example, email accounts can provide an opportunity for hackers to gain access to the entire network if they were able to guess or obtain passwords through phishing schemes.
Controls
The security controls in place mitigate the risk of attackers exploiting security threats and vulnerabilities. These controls include firewall settings, security management tools/software (such as antivirus), security policies (such as banning USB sticks), and other relevant security practices (such as having good password hygiene).
Conclusion:
A security risk assessment is an important part of protecting your healthcare organization from cyber-attacks. By taking the time to assess your vulnerabilities and identify potential threats, you can put in place the necessary safeguards to protect your data. At Medical ITG, we specialize in conducting security risk assessments for healthcare organizations. We would be happy to work with you to help ensure the safety of your data. Contact us today to learn more about our services.
