Cloud or Chaos? Navigating the Risks and Rewards in Healthcare Cybersecurity

Cloud computing in healthcare is the future, your hospital is either on board with it or you are lost in dust with outdated technology. But just like that miracle drug that comes on the market with its list of side effects, the cloud has its perks and risks. 

For healthcare organisations, you need to understand that your data is a goldmine for cyber criminals. And let’s be honest, the stakes are high. We are talking patient records, diagnostics, National Insurance Number (NI), medical records; all this information is valuable and can be worth millions to the right buyer. So, it’s better to keep your cybersecurity game strong than be sorry later. Cloud computing is a game changer for healthcare, but when it comes to security it needs a doctor. That’s where the role of healthcare cybersecurity services like PeoplActive come into picture. 

So, without sugarcoating more, let’s dive into the good, bad of cloud computing for healthcare cybersecurity. 

Cloud Computing’s Good Side (Yes, it’s awesome) 

Money Talks: It’s cost effective

Let us give you a situation and you tell us which one you want to be in – pay a fortune for servers and endless storage drives or utilize cloud services where you pay as you go and scale as you grow. The latter, right? Operational expenses take a heavy chunk of healthcare profits and what better than trimming them down. As a hospital, you are not just saving on hardware but investing smartly in flexible, scalable solutions. However, the same does not apply to cloud security as there is no one-size-fits-all solution. PeoplActive’s healthcare cybersecurity services make sure while you are cutting down on your costs, you are not compromising on security. We handle those security checks for you, so that you don’t have to constantly worry about it. 

Cloud: The Lifesaver for Backup and Recovery 

With cyber-attacks on hospitals on a rise, physical servers and hardware cannot be your go-to-solutions when you are hit by a ransomware. By this we mean that it might take a while for these hardware systems to recover your data and bring back your operations to normal. But, when you have cloud solutions for your hospital, all such worries are gone. You can restore your data back to how it was, in just minutes.  

As a part of our healthcare cybersecurity services, we offer data backup strategies, where we help you get back on your feet faster than you wear those gloves before the operation.  

Anytime, Anywhere Collaboration 

This benefit is for hospitals with more than one branches. Your patients have come for a particular treatment to a specialist, but they forward their case to another specialist after examining them. With cloud services powering your hospital premises, you can transfer the case to another branch in no time. In other words, the patient details become location agnostic, and you can access them anytime and anywhere.  

Furthermore, cloud also ensures that this information is encrypted both in transit and at rest. With advanced security features, cyber criminals can only dream of stealing your information. You can even hire a cyber security specialist to configure these data encryption settings to make sure your data remains safe. 

Compliance without Complications

HIPAA, GDPR, ISO 27001. Do these acronyms also haunt you in your nightmares? Compliance in healthcare isn’t just a suggestion, it’s the law. And cloud computing helps you improve your compliance posture, as it has built-in compliance features that assist you in being on the good side of regulatory bodies. But there’s a catch, you still need to configure your systems to adhere to the laws. That’s where our cloud security specialists step in, helping you stay compliant without breaking a sweat and paying hefty fines from your pocket. 

The Risks: Cloud’s Dark Side

If you thought, moving to cloud is the right choice and it will improve your security posture, wait a minute! There is a different side to it too. So, take your decision carefully before moving ahead. 

Data Breaches: The Nightmare no one wants 

Let’s get real! Cyber criminals don’t sleep. They are always in search of vulnerabilities to disrupt your hospital. And cloud can be one of the ways they do it. Infact, according to the 2024 Global Threat Report, there has been a 75% increase in cloud environment intrusions year-on-year. Showcasing, the risks associated with cloud are high and if you are not prepared, be ready to take a bullet. That’s why our healthcare cybersecurity services exist, to stop breaches. Our experts know which vulnerabilities can be exploited. Hence, they make sure those are monitored and secured continuously. 

Misconfigurations

Uh-oh! Your team misconfigured a security protocol while setting up your cloud environment. And this might be one of the reasons your cloud environment got taken over by a foreign host. Misconfigurations are equivalent of rolling down the red carpet for malicious actors. The consequence? Big ransoms to recover the system, setting up the system again, and all that data gone in no time. 

A piece of advice to avoid such misconfigurations time and again is to get your cloud configured by expert professionals. They make sure all the necessary check points are taken care of. That’s where our cloud security specialists come in. They audit, they configure, and they secure your cloud environment from such external threats that can lead to disaster. 

Insider Threats

Who said your enemy isn’t sitting beside you? Don’t look at your neighbour now. Insider threats arise from 2 major points: a) employees with a malicious intent towards the organisation b) misuse of privileged access to sensitive information. With multiple access points in cloud, they can easily access sensitive information, change it and even obliterate it.  The result? A chaos in your hospital. 

But you can tackle this risk too even when you have a cloud environment. Cloud environments come with role-based access control. Allowing only designated users to access information, ensuring you don’t have to worry about stalking your neighbours’ logs. With our healthcare cybersecurity services, we help you manage this threat by ensuring that no person gets privileged access beyond a point. 

Third-party woes

Ever thought what will happen to your data, if your cloud service provider encounters a cyber incident? You are caught in the crossfire. This risk is like an uninvited guest at your doorstep that you might not expect on a Sunday morning. A smart way to avoid this risk is by assessing your service provider and securing yourself before anything escalates. 

A proactive way is to let Peoplactive’s healthcare cybersecurity services handle your vendor management woes for you. We make sure every vendor goes through a risk assessment before you use their product/service. If they are not secure, we don’t play ball. 

Final Thoughts:

So, what’s your takeaway? Cloud might be a game-changer for healthcare but for that you don’t need to skip the security door.  Cyber criminals are lurking in the shadows, waiting for you to make one wrong move. So, you need a solid plan and a partner who can help you navigate the risks before it turns into a breach. 

That’s where your Anti-Threat Cyber Squad comes in, with our years of experience in handling cyber threats, we now hack the minds of hackers. Our healthcare cybersecurity services help you stay ahead of cyber criminals and utilise cloud to the fullest potential. You can approach us by writing to us at info@peoplactive.com