Cybersecurity in 2022: password-less authentication, zero trust, blockchain and more

Q. What do you see on the horizon in 2022 when it comes to technological advances in healthcare cybersecurity? A. There are at least three technological advances that will apply to healthcare cybersecurity and across other industries as well. They are password-less authentication, secure access service edge (SASE) and zero trust. The use of password-less authentication is growing, as it can help healthcare organizations reduce security risks associated with passwords. A. There are two emerging technologies, homomorphic encryption and blockchain, whose impact on the security of the healthcare industry is particularly interesting. FHE eliminates this by allowing people with access to manipulate the data, keeping it encrypted and reducing the time it is decrypted. And what should healthcare provider organizations be doing to prepare? With emerging variants always on the rise and attack vectors getting more sophisticated, it's safe to say ransomware attacks will continue to plague healthcare providers and society as a whole. To prepare, organizations should perform regular data backups and integrity checks of those backups, and provide security awareness training to employees to avoid phishing and other social engineering tactics. A. As the Internet of Things continues to expand its reach in the real world, including the medical field, IoT security will also need to be prioritized by healthcare providers. Thousands of devices that comprise the Internet of Things must be protected – that includes items you may find in hospitals and healthcare centers, such as infusion pumps and remote patient monitoring devices, among others.