Enterprise Mobility
How to Secure Healthcare Data using Enterprise Mobility Management Services
With the increasing usage of
mobile devices in healthcare, securing data and protected health information
(PHI) is becoming increasingly important. To secure healthcare mobile devices
and data, utilization of enterprise mobility management solutions is important
for healthcare professionals.
Enterprise mobility management
(EMM) has been improved in the past several years allowing healthcare firms to
address the risk associated with mobile devices, particularly the healthcare
apps or systems storing sensitive patient data or PHI.
Despite this, the increasing
usage of unauthorized mobile devices by care providers inside and outside
healthcare centers to access PHI is a major challenge. Unsecure devices working
on BYOD policies and third-party apps leave various technology
security loopholes that hackers can utilize to bypass network
security.
Implementing robust EMM solutions
helps you avoid any exterior or interior threats related to healthcare data security.
But implementing EMM solutions is not that easy. It should cover a large
portion of your healthcare devices. Besides this, you also need software development solutions with
easy deployment, well-defined management policies, and multiple data
protection.
To apply EMM solutions in your
healthcare setting, you should know about different data security threats. So,
let’s cover one by one in detail:
Data Security Challenges in Healthcare
Data security
is one of the biggest threats to the adoption of enterprise mobility services
in healthcare. Patient data is extremely sensitive and vulnerable to outside
attacks. Some of them include:
Omni Potent Employees
Healthcare employees are often
the weakest link in healthcare data security practices. Hacking data from their
devices or third-party apps is the easiest. Here is an example: a bunch of
healthcare staff goes out to have coffee in a nearby shop and use its public
WiFi with a less secure password.
Any hacker now can easily bypass
this network security by cracking the password. Educating and training
healthcare staff about public network and PHI risks is not enough today. You
need to integrate EMM services or solutions tailored to your needs by working
with an expert enterprise
software development company.
Phishing and Ransomware Attacks
Phishing attacks are common in
the healthcare domain. Disguising malware behind a trusted device or service is
the easiest way to trick users under phishing. Mobile devices are particularly
vulnerable to “watering hole” attacks - a category under phishing. Similarly,
ransomware attacks challenge healthcare data security too. It includes
sending malware data - through emails, files, or other digital forms to get
access to restricted healthcare networks and steal data from them.
All of such threats can be
neutralized by the adoption of mobile application management solutions. Such
solutions verify apps already stored on user devices and restrict access to
third-party apps outside the corporate network. For cloud-based
apps, 2FA is applied for better security.
Device Loss
Loss of healthcare devices like
laptops, iPad, and more by medical staff is another major issue to healthcare
data security. Misuse of patient data from stolen devices can lead to serious
consequences. Hence, setting up predetermined damage control protocols in case
of loss of the device is vital. Installing file management software that
regains data is one way of controlling the damage.
Weak Passwords
This challenge is again
associated with healthcare professionals. The carelessness in changing
passwords every week and applying strong passwords can result in loss of PHI.
Hence, its vital that medical care providers apply comprehensive password
policies for their staff to limit hacking incidents. This also makes
phishing scams difficult due to higher password difficulty.
Shadow IT
Shadow IT is another potent issue
that healthcare organizations face right now. It includes the use of apps,
software, and practices by healthcare staff that is currently restricted by
their employers. For example use of Alexa for appointment booking at the
healthcare desk is also an unauthorized practice. Not only its non-secure but
presents the threat of healthcare data access by an outside firm -
Amazon.
Shadow IT is not only limited to
the usage of restricted healthcare IT
solutions or apps by staff, but it also involves the entire IT
infrastructure of healthcare
Hence, organizations should
clearly set policies for access, storage, and transmission of PHI data
maintained on both organizational-owned and private systems. The policies
should also allow healthcare organizations to examine employee devices and
cloud services used by them to ensure sensitive data can be wiped right
away.
Overcome Healthcare Data Security Challenges
To address the above data
security challenges in healthcare, it's important for healthcare practitioners
to apply and integrate robust enterprise mobility management (EMM)
solutions.
Popular components under EMM are as follows :
Mobile Device Management (MDM)
MDM is among the key pills of
enterprise mobility management strategy. Its main role includes managing
devices carrying EMM solutions. From troubleshooting, OS configuration to
remote access - MDM tracks every device activity and protects it in case it’s
lost or stolen. MDM solutions support all kinds of OSes, including Android, iOS
solutions, and more. MDM is the foundation of EMM, but it fails to cover other
areas like device content management, etc.
Mobile Application Management (MAM)
MAM includes supervising the
usage of commercial and third-party apps in a healthcare network by users. It
ensures restricted apps are not accessible in the healthcare network. Applying
policies to specific apps is also a part of MAM, It's pretty handy in case of
bring-your-own-device (BYOD) scenarios as IT network administrators can manage
a variety of iOS and Android apps
used by medical staff.
Mobile Content Management (MCM)
Mobile content management
comprises content management, delivering content and services to mobile
devices. It also works in collaboration as it enables file sharing and file
storage management on mobile devices. MCM has also the features of file
transfer from devices to the cloud and vice versa.
MCM includes spring and
delivering content on mobile devices. It controls the way files are shared b/w
users in a healthcare setting. Things like file type, transfer method, storage
duration, and access rights fall under MCM. MCM also manages file distribution
under cloud services network
Identity and Access Management (IAM)
It is an important component of
EMM from the security viewpoint. IT ensures the right users have access to the
right data at any point in time. IAM controls users’ information and
authenticates their identity before allowing network access.
Finally, these four components
work in tandem under EMM to provide robust security for mobile devices,
including the data accessed by these devices in a healthcare environment.
Utilizing Enterprise Mobility Management Solutions to Safeguard HealthCare
Data
No doubt healthcare
software solutions have made it easier for care providers to access
critical data in real-time anytime, anywhere from any device; but it's
important to not lose, expose or scramble that information due to poor data
security practices.
By integrating robust EMM
solutions, healthcare IT managers can set up a secure environment for medical
staff for using personal and professional applications.
Here are some ways to use EMM
suites for improving healthcare data protection:
Biometric authentication and Secure Passcodes
You can apply biometric
authentication for screen unlock using mobile device management tools in your
healthcare setting. It is robust security practice to safeguard and limit
access to sensitive data, Applications with biometric security works even
better at healthcare premises. If no biometric security, then create
comprehensive password policies under EMM for various mobile devices in the
network. Apply measures under EMM that forces users to change passwords
regularly and restrict them from using the same passwords again.
Robust Application controls
With MAM solutions, IT
administrators in your healthcare setting can enable trusted applications only
for usage under the healthcare network. They can easily whitelist or blacklist
after analyzing MAM compliance to reduce the possibility of device compromise.
This minimizes the possibility of malware introduction and data leakage too.
Disk encryption enforcement
EMM tools also allow healthcare
network administrators to make sure the default storage encryption settings are
not tampered by anyone. Apply disk encryption is one of the important
healthcare device security practices.
Ensuring HIPAA Compliance
EMM solutions also ensure
healthcare software solutions running in your premise stay compliant with
healthcare data security standards and regulations. Such policies are vital to
prevent unauthorized usage of medical data by people outside your hospital.
Various policies like BYOD, HIPAA, etc. are created by healthcare firms for
secure storage, access, and transmission of patient data. MDM devices or
solutions ensure compliance with all healthcare data privacy laws. You might
need to bring in a third-party enterprise mobility management services provider
for successful implementation.
Securing Data from Lost Devices
EMM solutions can be used to
recover and delete sensitive healthcare data from lost or stolen devices. To
wipe out data and restrict usage, various EMM methods can be used, including
network restrictions, SSO, VPN, certificates, and more
Summing Up
Enterprise mobility
management solutions are increasing in popularity for delivering better
while ensuring robust security.
If you are a healthcare provider
looking for EMM solutions to improve network security, connect with us at
A3logics.
Drop us a line to know more about
our enterprise mobility solutions & services.
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