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Practice data loss prevention (DLP). DLP prevents the unauthorized use of sensitive information. DLP classifies sensitive data, monitors channels and devices for behavior that might indicate data is being shared or accessed inappropriately and prevents data loss. Imagine a well-meaning but overworked doctor at a busy hospital who needs to quickly reference patient charts while on the move. Lacking immediate access to a secure workstation, they decide to temporarily save a few sensitive patient files to their personal cloud storage account for easier access later. The hospital’s DLP system detects this policy violation – data marked as confidential being transferred to unapproved storage. It immediately alerts IT security while potentially blocking the transfer. This swift response prevents an accidental data breach, allowing the hospital to re-educate the doctor about secure data handling practices and avoid potential fines or reputational damage associated with data exposure.
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Have an incident response plan. Develop and regularly update an incident response plan to swiftly address breaches. A hospital’s incident response plan would likely contain elements such as detection and analysis (rapid identification of potential breaches through network monitoring and alerts); containment (isolation of affected systems to prevent further spread); eradication (removal of malware/threats and thorough system analysis of the root cause); recovery (restoration of systems and data from backups, ensuring data integrity); and post-incident review (detailed analysis of the incident to pinpoint vulnerabilities, improve security protocols, and update employee training to enhance future defenses).
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Test your security with Purple Teaming. Purple Teaming is a collaborative approach that strengthens security posture by having a single team simulate both cyberattacks and defenses. This allows for more realistic and comprehensive breach simulations.
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Do regular security audits. Conduct security audits on AI systems and their integration points with existing healthcare IT infrastructure.
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Conduct staff training. Educate physicians and staff members on the cybersecurity risks associated with generative AI and how to identify potential threats.
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Choose reputable AI vendors. Prioritize vendors with stringent security practices, data privacy standards, and clear incident response plans.
GenAI will continue to prove itself to be a transformative tool in healthcare. By proactively managing the cybersecurity risks associated with GenAI, healthcare organizations can maximize those benefits.
About the author: Sanjay Bhakta is vice president and head of solutions at Centific, which is leading and developing collaborative, innovative, and disruptive solutions that help clients protect their technology infrastructures and enhance business processes. His industry knowledge spans multiple areas of digital safety that include cybersecurity, fraud detection and prevention, and the adoption of various technical frameworks and standards as best practices in the 21st century.
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