If hackers find government computers easy pickings, what about those in healthcare?
Cyber attacks on U.S. government computers are mushrooming in number, according to the April 10 cover story of BusinessWeek, and that doesn’t bode well for the security of patient data stored in the computers maintained by doctors and hospitals.
The article, titled “The New E-spionage Threat,” describes how the latest techniques to infiltrate computer networks and harvest sensitive information are “rendering traditional defenses—firewalls and updated antivirus software—virtually useless.” BusinessWeek reports that much of this high-tech spying can be traced back to foreign governments, namely China (which has denied the charge).
Computer spying represents a new form of asymmetrical warfare. “You don’t need an Army, a Navy, an Air Force to beat the U.S,” a US Air Force general is quoted as saying. “You can be a peer force for the price of the PC on my desk.”
Hospitals, doctors, and insurers should be just as alarmed about their own computer defenses.
The New E-spionage Threat [Via BusinessWeek]
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It is a serious problem that many health professionals don’t even know about. With literally hundreds of different patient management software options it is increasingly difficult to plug up all the security holes. With large online databases such as HealthVault these records may become more secure behind the firewalls of Microsoft and Google, other concerns arise. The odds of an attempted attack are multiplied exponentially compared to an individual hospital or office and even though the odds of an attack being successful are comparatively low it may only take one successful attack to cause havoc. I’m not advocating a solution, only that physicians take whatever measures they can to protect patient information.