Digital transformation in healthcare has brought many benefits to patients and providers, including improved access, efficiency, and quality of care. However, digital transformation also poses new cybersecurity challenges as sensitive patient data becomes vulnerable to attacks and breaches by unauthorized parties.
This article discusses the progress of digital transformation in healthcare, the challenges of protecting patient data, and the cybersecurity solutions that can be used to address these challenges.
The Health Issues and Challenges of Digitization in Indonesia
The current health problem in Indonesia is related to the fragmentation of health data due to the large number of applications and limited regulations on standardization and data sharing. Currently, there are more than 400 health applications developed by the central and local governments. This has resulted in health policies not being fully based on comprehensive data and health services facing efficiency constraints.
To overcome this problem, the Regulation of the Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia No. 21 of 2020 on the Strategic Plan of the Ministry of Health for 2020-2024 has called for changes in health development governance through the integration of health information, research and development systems.
However, health digitization efforts are also facing increasing cybersecurity threats. The health sector has become an easy target for cybercriminals, particularly as evidenced by the growth of ransomware attacks in the health industry in 2022, which increased by 650% over the previous year. The cost of a healthcare data breaches also increased significantly, from US$7.13 million in 2020 to US$9.23 million the following year, an increase of 29.5%
In Indonesia, the public was shocked in 2021 by an alleged data leak from a health insurance program platform. The data of 279 million Indonesians was allegedly leaked and sold on hacker forums, and the perpetrators even included 1 million data samples for free.
Patient Data Protection Challenges in Digital Health Transformation
The adoption of telehealth, the cloud, and the Internet of Things (IoT) is creating opportunities for hackers to access valuable health data and systems. As a result, healthcare organizations must provide secure ways for patients and providers to consistently access, manage, and monitor care.
Domestically, the Personal Data Protection Law (PDP Law) is expected to limit the misuse, leakage, and buying and selling of personal data that occurs due to cyberattacks, human error, and system failures. However, the implementation of the PDP Law also requires an increase in information security literacy. There are still many hospitals that use pirated software and do not use official applications, and Internet security in hospitals is also inadequate.
In addition, the healthcare sector also faces the challenge of protecting data that is distributed across multiple platforms, especially with the growing number of endpoints created by the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), creating vulnerabilities that have yet to be fully addressed.
To overcome these challenges, the healthcare industry must implement reliable data security solutions. Zscaler and F5 solutions can be one option. Not only do they provide better security against malware, ransomware and phishing, but they also offer ease of use and manageability.
Zscaler ZeroTrust Exchange Simple Solution to Protect Health Data
Zscaler’s ZeroTrust Exchange solution is a cloud-native platform that connects users, workloads and devices with the concept of zero trust, where every connection must be verified before permission is granted.
Zscaler is trusted by some of the largest healthcare organizations in the world to protect users and applications. With a zero-trust approach that grants as few permissions as possible, Zscaler provides end-to-end security by connecting the right users to the right applications according to business policies, considering the identity, context and content of each transaction.
Here are three benefits of Zscaler ZeroTrust Exchange.
1. Secure your users
Arm your team with fast, secure, and reliable access to the web, SaaS, and private applications.
- Prevent cyber threats and loss of sensitive data
- Protect patient data and privacy
- Secure access for all users, including patients, physicians, nurses, and administrators
2. Secure your workloads
Protect workloads and cloud/SaaS data with zero-trust connectivity, segmentation, and posture control
- Simplify connecting hospitals, clinics, and care centers to the Internet while reducing operational costs
- Simplify and automate the process of connecting cloud and data center workloads using a hybrid multi-cloud architecture
- Leverage zero-trust cloud and application connectivity
3. Secure your IoMT
Provide zero trust Internet access and secure remote access for IoT and OT devices.
- Leverage remote monitoring tools
- Support telehealth, wearables and monitoring devices
- Get fast and secure application access from any device, anywhere
Securing Healthcare Data with F5 Healthcare
The F5 Healthcare Solution is a complete suite of products and services designed specifically to help healthcare organizations protect against cybersecurity threats. The solution includes several key components, including Local Traffic Manager (LTM) for load management, fault handling, and healthcare application security. Application Security Manager (ASM) protects against web and application attacks. Gateway provides controlled access to applications and healthcare data, while Edge Defense protects against DDoS attacks and other threats.
Here are five key features of the F5 Healthcare solution.
- Bot Management: Fight malicious bots with an advanced solution that leverages machine learning.
- Online Fraud Prevention: Protect healthcare portals and applications from account takeover and fraud
- Access and Authorization: Reduce login friction and verify users with efficient methods
- Secure APIs & Integrations: Manage APIs securely in the data center or cloud
- Application Protection: Gain robust application protection against a variety of attacks
Get a Healthcare Solution from Zscaler & F5 Only at CDT
Optimize the security of your healthcare system and patient data with Zscaler and F5 only at Central Data Technology (CDT). As an authorized F5 and Zscaler partner, CDT will help you implement healthcare solutions to protect patient data, overcome cyber-attacks, and ensure secure and reliable healthcare services.
Backed by a professional, experienced, and certified IT team, CDT can also help you with consulting, deployment, management, and after-sales support to eliminate trial and error. Interested in F5 and Zscaler solutions? Contact us by clicking here.
Author: Wilsa Azmalia Putri
Content Writer CTI Group
