October is designated as Cybersecurity Awareness Month when the public and private sectors work together to raise awareness of cyber threats and the importance of cybersecurity. This year marks the 20th year since Congress declared October Cybersecurity Awareness Month. In recognition of this milestone, the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has launched a new cybersecurity awareness program called Secure Our World.
Secure Our World reflects the agency’s commitment to integrating its messaging across all awareness campaigns and programs. CISA encourages individuals and organizations to take specific actions every day to protect themselves online and when using connected devices.
CISA recommends organizations, including health care facilities and providers, implement these four action steps to mitigate the risk of cyberattacks.
- Using strong passwords: Have employees create a password with upper and lower case letters, numbers, symbols, and words to make it difficult for a hacker to decode. Update passwords periodically and keep track of them with password management software.
- Requiring multi-factor authentication: Employees should enter additional information other than a password to access accounts, such as an SMS code, authenticator app, fingerprint, or access card.
- Teaching employees to avoid phishing scams: Harmful links or attachments in an email may provide unauthorized access to data or infect a network with harmful code. This can lead to an organization’s data being kept hostage for ransom. Educate employees on how to avert a phishing trap.
- Updating business software: Using out-of-date software puts an organization at risk of a cyberattack. Hackers use software flaws to steal business, employee, and patient data. Health care organizations should adopt a patch management plan to keep current on available patches, decide which patches are needed for specific software and devices, test them, ensure they have been properly installed, and document the process.
Given the increasing sophistication and pervasive nature of cyberattacks, the health care industry must prioritize cybersecurity and make the necessary expenditures to protect its patients, employees, and organization. We will delve more into cybersecurity and the health care industry in an upcoming article.
About One80 Intermediaries/Manchester Specialty
Manchester Specialty, a division of One80 Intermediaries, is a national specialty underwriting and insurance program management firm, licensed to do business as a program administrator in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Our agent/broker partners and their Allied Health clients look to us for our expertise, broad product capability, and commitment to the market, as well as the quality and stability of our insurance programs for Home Care, Medical Staffing, Allied Health and Human Services organizations. For more information, call us toll-free at 1-855-972-9399 or visit Allied Health Firms – One80 Intermediaries.