The past few months have played witness to a sharp rise in cybersecurity attacks against healthcare providers. Historically speaking, the healthcare industry has lagged behind other major industries in terms of cybersecurity. This presents an easy target and a lucrative opportunity for hackers. Medical records and data are immensely valuable; it can be sold on the dark web and used to commit stealthy identity theft.

Cybercriminals use a number of techniques, including:

• DDoS: Distributed Denial-of-Service. A type of cybersecurity attack in which a hacker renders an online service unavailable to its users.
• APT: Advanced Persistent Threats. A type of cybersecurity attack in which a hacker gains access to a network and, undetected, seeks to remain inside it for months in order to collect sensitive information.
• Password Spraying. An attempt to gain illicit access to a large number of accounts by trying commonly used passwords.

GlassHouse Systems is committed to protecting the network security of healthcare providers during this difficult time. Read on to learn more about what we can do for your organization.

What Makes this Pandemic a Perfect Storm that Benefits Hackers?

• Healthcare employees working from home: The COVID-19 pandemic has left the healthcare industry in a particularly vulnerable position. While doctors may be required to come into hospitals, many “non-essential” healthcare employees have been working from home. This represents a major security risk, as their home computers may not be equipped with adequate cybersecurity protection.
• Fear, panic, and uncertainty among common people: Hackers have jumped at the opportunity to masquerade as healthcare providers and trick common people into giving away their personal information in exchange for protection from COVID-19. The fear, panic, and uncertainty that quickly became prevalent during the pandemic has left many people feeling desperate for anything that could reduce their chance of contracting the virus. As a result, they are much more likely to fall for scams.
• People seeking information for a vaccine: Countries around the world are racing to manufacture a vaccine for COVID-19. As such, there are state and non-state actors who place immense value on medical data that could speed up the process. The WHO and the US Department of Health and Human Services have already been hit with cyberattacks for this reason.

GlassHouse Systems is Here to Protect Your Organization

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed a flaw in the cybersecurity of the healthcare industry that should have been addressed years ago. Now more than ever, people are counting on the healthcare providers they trust to safeguard their private medical information. At GlassHouse Systems, we are proud to provide your organization with the tools and services it needs to do just that.

For 25 years, we have been helping our clients in both the public and private sector to reduce the complexity and operating costs of their IT environments. Our expertise covers cloud services, backup and recovery, enterprise security, IT infrastructure, machine learning, SAP HANA, and software asset management. 

Contact us or leave a comment below to learn more about how we can protect your healthcare organization from cybersecurity threats. With GlassHouse Systems, you can come out on the other side of this pandemic with a stronger and better-equipped IT infrastructure.

For all US-based enquiries, please contact our US offices:

• +1 (630) 724-8500
• +1 (630) 724-8509

By email: us@ghsystems.com

For Canada and worldwide, please contact our Canadian offices:

• +1 (416) 229-2950
• +1 (416) 229-9096

By email: canada@ghsystems.com