5 Recommendations for Strengthening Radiology Cybersecurity

The following is a guest article by Jatin (JT) Thakkar, General Manager for Global Services and Solutions at Carestream Every day patients trust their health to the care of medical providers. They also place their personal health information (PHI) in their care. Sadly, ransomware attacks on healthcare delivery organizations are increasing in frequency and sophistication. The annual number of ransomware attacks on healthcare delivery organizations more than doubled from 2016 to 2021, exposing the PHI of nearly 42 million patients, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. In the first half of 2023 alone, more than 220 cyberattacks targeted hospitals and health systems, according to the American Hospital Association. Healthcare facilities, including radiology departments, are a desirable target for hackers because of the high volume of personally identifiable information (PII) handled daily. As imaging centers and departments generate more data, connect more devices to their networks, and expand their digital ecosystems to the cloud, they create larger attack surfaces, which provide hackers with more opportunities for intrusion.  The software applications within your imaging modalities are part of these larger ecosystems. Intrusions that come into your PACS and RIS will impact your modalities and vice versa. Case in point: In May 2021, St James’s Hospital in Dublin was one of 54 public hospitals affected when the Health Service Execu...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - Category: Information Technology Authors: Tags: Health IT Company Healthcare IT Hospital - Health System Security and Privacy Carestream Cyberattacks Cybersecurity Healthcare Cybersecurity Healthcare Ransomware Jatin (JT) Thakkar PACS PACS Security Personal Health Information Source Type: blogs