Cybersecurity

Healthcare providers are increasingly dependent on electronic medical records, diagnostic equipment, laboratory systems, cloud platforms and digital communication to deliver care. A cybersecurity incident can do far more than compromise confidential information — it can disrupt treatment, delay diagnosis, affect clinical decision-making and threaten the financial viability of your business. For medical imaging, IVF, aged care, NDIS and other healthcare providers, cybersecurity should be managed as both a clinical risk and an organisational risk, not simply an IT responsibility.

In the cybersecurity gap analysis we review processes including

• Governance and accountability – reporting, policies, risk assessments and oversight of cyber risks.
• Data protection – secure storage and transmission of patient information, encryption, secure disposal of records and controls over portable devices and removable media.
• System and network security – current software, security patches, firewalls, network segmentation and vulnerability management.
• Backups and disaster recovery – regular, protected and tested backups of critical clinical and business information, supported by documented recovery procedures.
• Incident response – processes for identifying, containing, investigating and recovering from cyber incidents, including escalation and data breach response.
• Privacy and breach management – processes to meet applicable Australian privacy and health-record requirements, including assessment and notification of eligible data breaches where required.
• Third-party and cloud provider governance – due diligence, contractual security requirements and ongoing monitoring of vendors that store, process or access health information.
• Staff training and awareness – regular training on phishing, passwords, privacy, suspicious emails, social engineering and reporting security incidents.
• Business continuity – contingency arrangements for maintaining patient care when clinical, imaging, laboratory, communication or administrative systems are unavailable.
• Monitoring and testing – security logging, vulnerability scanning, penetration testing where appropriate and periodic testing of cybersecurity and disaster recovery arrangements.
• Medical and connected device security – management of network-connected clinical equipment, including software updates, access controls and manufacturer security requirements.