Email serves as a vulnerability in the defense of healthcare cybersecurity
In the dynamic landscape of the healthcare industry, email has evolved from a mere administrative tool to a critical infrastructure, yet it remains the number one attack vector. This revelation underscores the urgent need for effective authentication policies and secure email practices.
The recent attack on Yale New Haven Health serves as a stark reminder of the consequences of inadequate email security. The breach exposed sensitive patient data, highlighting the weakest link in the industry's security efforts.
Despite this, around 40% of the top 2,000 U.S. healthcare providers are using DMARC, an industry-recognized standard for email verification, in its weakest setting. This approach merely observes and logs suspicious activity, failing to take proactive measures to stop potential threats.
On the other hand, only 15% of these providers are using DMARC to actively block suspicious messages, a clear indication of the industry's slow response to the growing threat. Major email providers like Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft have already enforced DMARC for bulk email senders, with Microsoft doing so as recently as May of this year.
Phishing remains the single most common method used to breach healthcare systems. The operational pressure in healthcare causes technical teams to prioritize uptime for essential services like imaging systems and EHRs, often leading to email security taking a back seat.
The high cost of email-related failures necessitates a shift in the industry's approach. Email is no longer a background utility but a critical infrastructure that requires robust protection. Securing email is one of the simplest and most impactful areas to address in healthcare cybersecurity.
The good news is that securing existing tools can yield significant security gains. Simple steps such as strengthening authentication methods, updating and patching systems promptly, conducting employee phishing awareness training, implementing advanced email filtering, and maintaining vulnerability management tools can go a long way in enhancing email security.
The healthcare sector must act on what it already knows about email being the primary attack vector and implement effective authentication policies. Cybersecurity is no longer an IT concern but a concern for everyone in hospitals and clinics, from IT leads to executive boards. Budgets for cybersecurity in healthcare have grown, and awareness is higher.
Protecting communication channels, especially email, must become a baseline expectation in the healthcare industry. As with a triage nurse who flags an infection but doesn't isolate the patient, the healthcare industry's approach to email security must respond effectively to the problem at hand. Trust is foundational to healthcare, and every phishing attack that succeeds erodes that trust.
This article was produced as part of the Expert Insights channel on our platformPro. The time to act is now. Let's secure our email infrastructure to safeguard patient data and uphold the trust that forms the bedrock of our healthcare system.
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