Time’s up on cyber-attacks

A cyber-attack occurs every 11 seconds. In recent years, the healthcare sector has emerged as the prime target by these often-sophisticated criminals. This trend isn’t going away anytime soon. In fact, it’s on an upward curve.

According to US government data, healthcare breaches have increased significantly in the last few months. A list created by the US Department of Health and Human Services includes?at least 125?electronic data breaches of healthcare organizations reported since the beginning of April this year.

Why does this continue to escalate? A vast amount of patient records, a greater reliance on our healthcare systems as a result of the pandemic, remote working and a complex IT environment make the perfect recipe for financially motivated ransomware attacks. I like to use the analogy that the more windows you have in your house, the more of them you must secure.

The damage and consequent clean-up operation in the wake of such an attack can be monumental, with the average cost of a large-scale cyber-attack at $30 million. Imagine for a moment what a hospital or healthcare network could do with that kind of money.

I have reflected on this and ultimately, it is a matter of urgency for our most vulnerable industries. Anyone who says otherwise is adding to the risk level. The reality is that as these cyber-attacks keep happening, the financial burden and threats to personal data are only going to grow.

Invest now, or run the risk of ransom

The healthcare industry is on course to become the biggest spending sector for security at the edge.

According to our insights, 44% of healthcare systems are planning to allocate between 11% and 20% of spend to boosting security and reliability at the edge, while 17% are aiming to allocate more than 21% of their edge computing budget to security.?

Budget allocations show that the will is there to defend against future incursions. However, organizations also need the right architecture in place to solve today’s problems of reliability and security, while supporting modernization around their digital agendas.

For example, in some cases, there may be legacy devices in place which are still capturing data at the edge. These may require support or automation instead of being thrown away or replaced.

The bottom line

Cyber-attacks never sleep, and security risks exist throughout the supply chain from start to finish. The rise of remote working certainly hasn’t helped matters – 84% of IT leaders report that data loss prevention is more challenging with a remote workforce.

Constant innovation is important for maintaining and defending complex IT environments like that of a hospital or entire healthcare system both now and in the future. Products that can support significant computing power and operate under harsh environments are going to be essential if we are to get ahead of the next big cyber-attack.

Thankfully, Dell OEM?Solutions are designed to be a protective bubble around data, ensuring integrity and confidentiality to provide resilience and reliability at every point along the chain. We ensure this by working with our technology partner 英特尔 , a world leader in this area.

Innovation and security go hand in hand

Here’s one example of a partnership that resulted in solution-based innovation which benefits on-the-ground healthcare workers, while also respecting data protection.

We worked with Bormann, our partner in Germany, to develop a robust and secure IT solution that supports the critical healthcare infrastructure, as well as the workforce.

Partnering with Dell’s OEM?Solutions, Bormann built?a?10.8-inch tablet PC with an?integrated DIN A4 thermal?printer which prints in black and?white, without using a drop of ink. What does all of that mean? Basically, we helped create a lightweight handheld device specially designed?with mobile workers in mind, like our ambulance crews who are always on the go, ready for the next call. This tech gives them the ability to print?secure, time-critical paperwork, wherever?and whenever they want.

Ransomware criminals don’t care about the size of your operations

It’s not just the large healthcare systems or the country’s biggest hospitals which are at risk of these costly attacks. Small- and medium-sized businesses, large-scale manufacturers and government agencies all fear cyber-attacks. It’s an apprehension shared by every organization.

I’m happy to report that Dell OEM Solutions are scalable from single servers and small data centers to full-sized 40-foot contained mobile data centers.

Let’s act together to safeguard the industries we need as if our lives depend on it. As we have seen from some of the attacks on the healthcare industry, this might be the case. Now is the time to take every available opportunity to use all end-to-end at through the edge.?