According to IBM Security’s Threat Intelligence Index, at the beginning of 2023, healthcare was among the top 10 most attacked industries in the world. The Cost of Data Breach 2023 report also shows that the cost of data breaches in healthcare has increased by 53.3% since 2020. Even as it complies with many regulatory practices, the healthcare industry has recorded the costliest data breaches for the 13th consecutive year, with an average cost of $10.93 million. 58% of incidents occurred in Europe, with the remaining cases in North America accounting for 42%.
Unified endpoint management (UEM) and medical device risk management concepts go hand in hand to create a stalwart cybersecurity posture that streamlines device management and ensures the security and reliability of medical devices used by doctors and nurses in their daily work. UEM is a type of technology that helps manage and secure a variety of endpoints, including mobile devices used in the healthcare ecosystem. These endpoints may also include medical devices or specially designed devices.
Today’s UEM vendors are developing highly usable solutions and should provide a single platform to oversee the deployment, security and performance of these devices, product lifecycle management and application lifecycle management. Some UEM solutions also include risk assessment capabilities – including AI-powered risk analysis and rapid risk assessment – to lend a hand meet industry regulatory requirements and mitigate potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities in real time.
Here are some of the main benefits that UEM provides to healthcare companies:
- Visibility: UEM provides real-time visibility into connected medical devices, enabling healthcare providers to monitor their health, performance and safety. This helps control risk and reduces the likelihood of data leaks or cyberattacks.
- Sleek deployment: Using UEM solutions, healthcare providers can deploy simpler medical devices, such as tablets used by doctors and nurses, by configuring them in bulk or individually, consistent with security policies. One of the main goals is to achieve a seamless relationship with end users, by default taking user needs into account.
- Safety management: UEM provides stalwart security policies and capabilities, including encrypted containers, single sign-on, identity management, wipe/remote wipe, and more. Security features can include dedicated risk management policies based on actual industry best practices and regulatory requirements that protect both patient and healthcare provider data.
Medical device risk management prioritizes patient safety through demanding methodology and risk controls.
1. Patient safety: Ensuring the safety and reliability of mobile medical devices is a must. Risk management processes lend a hand identify potential sources of harm and take preventive and protective actions to minimize risk to the patient.
2. Data protection: Nowadays, medical devices are interconnected and data security has become extremely critical. Medical device risk management strategies include cybersecurity measures, including specific risk management activities to protect patient data and prevent potential harm, such as data leaks or loss.
3. Regulatory compliance: Like healthcare organizations, medical device manufacturers must adhere to stringent regulatory guidelines such as the FDA’s Quality System Regulation (QSR). Proper risk assessment, risk management processes and methodologies, risk management principles and risk management activities are of paramount importance to ensuring compliance.
4. Lifecycle management: Managing the entire lifecycle of medical devices, including procurement, implementation and maintenance, is an element of risk management. This aligns with UEM’s core product lifecycle management capabilities for both devices and applications.
There is a clear alignment between UEM and medical device risk management. UEM provides some of the necessary capabilities to implement stalwart risk management methodologies and risk management processes as part of a broader cybersecurity strategy for the healthcare industry:
1. Visibility and monitoring: UEM solutions provide real-time visibility into medical devices, such as special tablets used by nurses and doctors, automatically identifying and mitigating potential sources of harm, such as security vulnerabilities and potential cyberattacks.
2. Enforcing the rules: UEM enables healthcare providers to consistently enforce security policies and configurations across all connected devices through automated risk assessment. They can be adapted and integrated with the company’s risk management policy. Some UEM solutions have built-in security policies that address regulatory industry regulatory requirements such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).
3. Speedy response: In the event of a device being compromised or malfunctioning, or if a device is lost or stolen, UEM enables real-time response, such as isolating affected devices or initiating remote updates and patches. From a cybersecurity perspective, the likelihood of cyber threats or attacks occurring is extremely high and there are no acceptable levels of exposure. UEM helps reduce business risk from cyber threats through automated risk-based responses.
4. Data protection: With UEM, sensitive data can be encrypted and protected, ensuring compliance with data protection regulations. Contemporary UEM technology providers support both US and European data privacy regulations to lend a hand healthcare IT teams stay productive and competent. Built-in identity and access management (IAM) capabilities and integration with IAM technologies are a must to create controls over which users can access what information.
5. Risk assessment: Any medical risk management framework defines risk analysis methodologies. UEM providers have built-in analytics tools, some powered by artificial intelligence, that automatically and granularly assess user risk from specific events in real time. These cybersecurity risk analysis capabilities also define the measures IT teams must take to perform appropriate risk control, in line with the risk management policy established by the company, and lend a hand improve decision-making. This may include stakeholder responses to SMS phishing, uninstalled patches, or operating systems that have not been updated. From a cybersecurity perspective, it has always been the case that no risk should be overlooked, so the security of medical devices and applications should be on the agenda of teams designing controls and creating end-to-end risk management processes.
In summary, the diversity of medical devices in healthcare, such as mobile devices for nurses and doctors, as well as the growing cyber threats, make the combination of UEM technology and medical device risk management a part of every risk management process in a healthcare company. This synergy not only ensures the security of patient data, but also protects sensitive healthcare data, minimizes business risk and increases stakeholder satisfaction. Cybersecurity risk assessments assess the likelihood of cyberattacks including phishing, ransomware, backdoors and web shells and should be part of the process of developing a comprehensive risk management process. AI-based risk analysis capabilities offered by some UEM vendors are part of cybersecurity assessments and can become an critical part of the agenda for any team designing controls for the healthcare industry. The ultimate goal is to create high-quality, holistic care for patients in an increasingly connected healthcare ecosystem.
IBM Security MaaS360 is a current, advanced, unified endpoint management platform that helps you comply with regulatory requirements and healthcare policies such as HIPAA/HITECH, improve data protection, reduce IT burden, and lower mobile device management costs. MaaS360 has an AI-powered engine that automatically assesses user risk so IT teams can proactively mitigate vulnerabilities and cyber threats.
Learn more about IBM Security MaaS360