Press/News

The FBI recently announced a potentially significant ransomware attack on the healthcare sector.

Ransomware groups are becoming more sophisticated and efficient in their ability to deploy ransomware attacks. The challenges presented by COVID-19 have only increased the target on health systems.

KLAS posed the following three questions to five CEOs at healthcare-focused cybersecurity firms:

1. What are your top three suggestions for health systems to implement immediately?

2. What are your top three suggestions for health systems to implement for the long term?

3. How should a provider organization consider reacting if they are hit by ransomware? Read More

By Ian Terry, Information Security Consultant at Intraprise Health

As the reality of working from home sinks in, many remote workers and their employers are seeing the appeal fade quickly. We all know that remote work is not quite as simple as it sounds. Technical, operational, and communication challenges are quickly presenting themselves when workforce members overload remote access systems, can’t perform their duties, and don’t know the best channels for reporting their issues and incidents.

Are we prepared for the information security and cybersecurity challenges specific to this new paradigm: remote work in the age of COVID-19? Read More

By Ian Terry, Information Security Consultant at Intraprise Health

The Coronavirus pandemic has catalyzed a rapid increase of telehealth adoption. Leveraging telehealth platforms, patients are able to speak with doctors and nurses without having to risk exposure to themselves or others.

The increase has been so drastic, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and its Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and the FBI have released special guidance related to the use of telehealth systems, particularly how they have come under attack by malicious actors and advanced persistent threats (APT).

For privacy and security practitioners in healthcare, the increased use of telehealth and government attention signals the need to learn more about telehealth systems, the security risks associated with their use and strategies for mitigating those risks. Read More

How should health care organizations react when kidnappers grab the goods?

Ransomware is a type of malicious software that infects computers, servers, databases, and managed service providers, encrypting data on the infected platform. The individuals behind the nefarious attack request a price, or ransom, from the organization in order to release the information. Generally, they do not provide the data decryption key until the ransom is paid. According to Verizon’s 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report, ransomware incidents accounted for more than 70% of all malware occurrences across the health care industry.

How an Attack Happens
“Often, when a computer or system is infected, a blue screen, or some other anomaly, will appear with a message about the ransomware,” explains Ryan Patrick, MBA, CISSP, CCSFP, senior vice president of security products and strategy at Intraprise Health. “The attackers need to be paid via cryptocurrency to release the records. Health care is specifically targeted, as the health care industry, unlike other industries, has been slow to adapt to the security industry. In 1996, HIPAA went into effect, but people really didn’t pay attention to cybersecurity until about 2015 when there was a big breach at Anthem.”

Read the article in For the Record Magazine 

A local tech firm focused on health care cybersecurity received $5.4 million in Series B funding from its private equity backer at the start of the new year to boost hiring and development of its flagship platform. The investment comes nearly two years after the company, Intraprise Health, was spun out of a Yardley-based software firm.
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