The Security Imperative in the Healthcare Industry: Steps to Defending Telehealth and Patient Portals Against Cyber Attacks

The healthcare industry is one of the biggest targets for cybercriminals. In 2020, ransomware attacks alone cost the industry $20.8 billion in downtime, affecting well over 600 providers nationwide. The pandemic transformed the landscape for healthcare, with the rapid adoption of technology to support telehealth, and patient portals became the primary way to communicate with providers, access treatment plans and related documents and process payments.

Patient portals quickly became a way to counter the challenges created by the pandemic, and security was often forgotten about or, at best, an afterthought in the rush to provide contactless and convenient access to healthcare. This resulted in opening the door for fraud, phishing and ransomware attacks. The portals are extremely attractive to cybercriminals, as each account contains a treasure trove of valuable personal and health data.