COVID-19: The Care Sector - One Year On
Rich Jackson
Leader in Business Development & Strategic Growth | Data Protection & Cyber Security | Human Firewall Specialist | Webinar Host & Guest Speaker | "Do the Right Thing, and Do Things Right"
Today marks one year since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a Pandemic.
At that stage we were very much in unknown territory, we had no idea how the next 12 months would play out.
There was no modern precedent to compare it with, and new threats emerged while existing threats (such as Cyber Crime) were facilitated and accelerated. COVID-19 presented threat actors with a new, large scale opportunity.
It is fair to say that the health and social care sector has suffered more than any other during the past year. Not only in the fight against the pandemic itself, or the preservation of life and/or quality of life for those it serves - but the fact that COVID-19 represented (and continues to represent) a clear opportunity to take advantage of an increasingly vulnerable profession.
As early as April 2020, data was emerging (such as from the COVID-19 Cyber Threat Coalition) to suggest that malicious cyber criminals had fast identified the pandemic as a gateway to do harm. They knew full well that the social engineering opportunities would be extensive, due to a combination of key factors that (when combined) created a very healthy hunting ground:
- A physically and mentally weary workforce
- High supply-chain demand for key care defence components - such as PPE, Hand Sanitiser, Face Masks etc
- Steady and ongoing increases in health technology adoption
- Generally weak cyber defences (both human and technical)
One respected care home owner explained to me today that the last year had left her and the care team "beaten up" from all angles, with only so much left in the tank.
How then do we help this sector to become (and stay) focused on cyber security?
How do we encourage them to invest time and effort in registering, starting and completing their NHS Data Security & Protection Toolkit (DSPT)?
These are core challenges for professionals such as myself, who remain focused and dedicated to supporting the care profession as best we can. While some care providers remain apathetic to data privacy and/or GDPR compliance, we are here when they are ready - and are always available for off-the-record conversations if that is what people feel they need.
ClearComm works in partnership with a wide variety of key stakeholders across the UK digital health and social care sector, leading the way with the design and delivery of cyber security, GDPR and mandatory compliance projects and solutions for:
- Academic Health Science Networks (AHSN)
- NHS Trusts
- NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG)
- National Care Home Groups
- Independent Health and Social Care Providers
- Community Service Providers and Charitable Trusts
- General Medical Practices
- Dentists
- Pharmacies
- Research and Clinical Trial Organisations
Our support is critical to care providers in providing advice and guidance on GDPR compliance, keeping service user/patient/residents data safe and secure. We advise and support organisations to ensure they meet compliance standards such as the NHS Data Security & Protection Toolkit.
Due to the complexity of the systems, the supply chain, organisational layers and organisational collaborations within this sector added with the sensitivity of the data processed and collected, the attack surface is significant. Almost 50% of all organisational data breaches and cyber-attacks directly affects care providers.
Stay Safe, Stay Secure.
Richard
Find out more about how ClearComm can support your care organisation: https://clearcomm.org/sectors/healthcare/