Password Automation for Healthcare

The Healthcare industry continues to be an effective target for hackers looking to obtain some of the most sensitive and highly personal data. Outdated systems and the lack of basic security standards has led to a record number of attacks in the past several years. According to HIPPA, “more patient and health plan member records were exposed or stolen in 2015 than in the previous 6 years combined.” It didn’t’ stop there though, as 2016 saw even more data breaches than the previous, and 2017 is wrapping up to be a potential record breaker.¹

Hackers know that a single casual slipup on the behalf of a contractor, vendor, or employee (BYOD, remote, or in-house) could take down the entire system. Experian highlights this in their 2017 Data Breach Industry Forecast noting: “Of the potential sources for a breach, electronic health records (EHR) are likely to be a primary target for attackers. The portable nature of this information and the number of different entities and end-points that need access to them mean the potential for them to touch a vulnerable computer system is high. While there may be significant protections in place to secure them in transit, it only takes one compromised or outdated system to lead to exposure.”The report goes on to say that “In 2016, there were 181 reported healthcare breaches ranging in size from 500 to 3.6 million effected individuals.”²A Verizon data breath analysis also reported that in 2016, 72% of all healthcare malware attacks were ransomeware.³
The WannaCry ransomware attack notoriously affected (among others) the National Health Services (NHS), leading to the cancellation of thousands of appointments and operations. Within the United States, the Ponemon Institute reports that health data breaches are costing the U.S. healthcare industry an estimated $6.2 billion.⁴ While many other industries typically devote more than 12% of their IT budgets to cybersecurity, Healthcare averages just half of that. ⁵

To prevent future damage, hospitals must establish new security standards. While budget limitations can be a deterrent to major change, the adoption of basic safeguards proves greatly beneficial. Because healthcare employees are consistently accessing databases containing sensitive patient information, they serve as the first line of defense against potential cyber-attacks. Daily practices such as using weak passwords can severely affect the security of an entire system, and healthcare workers, faced with a fast-paced environment, are unable to cope with time consuming password resets or steep learning curves for newly implemented systems.

RoboForm for Business is an ideal solution as it’s inexpensive, intuitive, and immediate. Compare this to a Single Sign-On solution (SSO), which averages a higher price tag and can take weeks, if not more, to fully implement. RoboForm’s high adoption rate stems from its ability to conveniently and effectively solve daily time-consuming tasks ranging from manually logging in to multiple systems to password resets and credential lock outs. Insecure practices are also eliminated, as sticky notes, text messages, instant messaging, etc., are no longer needed for saving and sharing. All RoboForm data is encrypted at all stages using AES256 encryption with PBKDF2, and facility owned RoboForm data can be securely shared with other employees using public-private key cryptography.

Streamlining password practices is extremely efficient with Roboform as it’s highly customizable and can be easily tailored to meet the policies or needs of a specific healthcare facility. Employees can be onboarded within minutes and admins can enforce password complexity requirements or reset forgotten passwords when needed. Many healthcare workers are already using RoboForm as private individuals and by adopting RoboForm for Business, healthcare facilities will have greater employee oversight when it comes to password habits and cyber-security best practices.

Additional features such as form filling technology automates the process of filling tediously long medical forms and records, greatly increasing productivity and providing a more positive experience for customers and patients.
Rather than choose between archaic polices or — SSO’s, experience complete security and convenience at an affordable price by starting a free RoboForm for Business 14-day trial.