HIPAA, HITECH, hack, cyber attack, cyber security, senior living

Are you covered in case of a cyberattack?

Senior living organizations are particularly vulnerable to cyber attacks, as their residents are often reliant on technology for communication and care. As a result, many senior living organizations now consider cyber insurance to be a critical asset to their risk mitigation strategy. Cyber insurance typically covers the costs of investigating and responding to a cyberattack, as well as any damages that may result. It can also provide coverage for the loss of data or income that results from an attack. In addition to malicious cyber attacks, insurance commonly covers a wide variety of other upstream failures of technology.

While the thought of obtaining cyber insurance can seem daunting, the peace of mind it gives to you, your communities, and your residents is priceless. Some of the items needed in place to apply for cyber insurance are.

• MFA Controlled access – On the dark web, there are 15 billion credentials, a 300% rise from 2018. Without this remote factor, attackers are unable to use them effectively thanks to multi-factor authentication (MFA). MFA has become more important than ever to secure access to sensitive systems and data due to remote working.
• Prepared & Tested Incident Response Plans – An up-to-date incident response plan with a trained team like vcpi provides efficiency, speed, and quality in response to cyber incidents. When combined with backups and business continuity plans, it significantly helps to mitigate the impacts on operations and your organization’s reputation, thereby limiting overall costs.
• Secured & Tested Backups – Attackers are looking to delete backups prior to launching a ransomware attack launch so they can successfully cripple and extort their victims. It is essential to secure backups through encryption and isolation from the network (Offline or MFA-controlled access) as well as regularly test backups and recovery plans.
• Filtered Emails & Web Content – Malicious links and files are still the primary way to insert ransomware, steal passwords, and eventually access critical systems. Today’s first line of defense includes indispensable technologies to filter incoming emails, block malicious sites or downloads; and test suspicious content in a “sandbox” environment.
• Protected Network – All breached organizations used firewalls to protect their networks – but the technology is often underutilized or outdated. Now is the time to ensure efficient firewalls and other technologies are in place with well-defined rules; leverage network segmentation, intrusion detection and prevention systems, data leak prevention systems, etc.
• Managed Vulnerabilities -Regular vulnerability scans and annual penetration testing simulate cyber attacks on the network. Such actions allow organizations to cover existing vulnerabilities and remediate them before threat actors have a chance to exploit them.
• Secured Endpoints – Advanced anti-malware solutions on workstations, servers, and mobile devices detect malicious programs and contain their speed. Technology allows organizations to remotely respond to attacks and even prevent data leakage. The time when simple ‘anti-virus’ was good enough is behind us.
• Phishing-Aware Workforce – Recently, attackers took advantage of COVID-19 – when people were stressed the most – as a guise to spread ransomware. There will always be environmental factors that attackers can exploit to deceive people. Training and phishing campaigns help ensure people remain aware and vigilant.
• Logged & Monitored Network – Logging and monitoring network activities allow an organization to identify something possibly harmful that might be happening. And attackers’ actions can be detected and contained at an early stage. Automated technology combined with operators monitoring is needed to watch network events or anomalous behavior of users.
• Patched Systems & Applications – Unpatched vulnerabilities remain a leading cause of intrusions into systems. Hundreds of vulnerabilities are revealed every month for multiple applications and systems. When technology environments are not patched in a timely fashion, attackers will seek to exploit their vulnerabilities.
• Protected Privileged Accounts – Privileged accounts are the keys to a network. When attackers compromise these accounts, the likelihood of causing significant harm is extremely high. Limiting the number of privileged accounts, using strong password security practices/vaults, MFA, and monitoring these accounts are critical to network security.
• Hardened Device Configuration – Attackers exploit default device settings or misconfigurations. Defining security baselines to harden devices, continuously managing secure configurations, and changing control processes are essential to preventing attackers from reaching their target.

Senior living organizations that purchase cyber insurance can rest assured that they will have the resources they need to recover from an attack and protect their residents. We highly encourage all senior living organizations to meet with a broker to find available options. By purchasing insurance, organizations can minimize the financial and emotional impact of a cyberattack.

For more information on how you can protect your organizations and residents reach out to our team. And to see where your vulnerabilities lie, get a FREE Risk Intelligence Scan. We will provide you with a report of sensitive and at-risk data across your managed networks and workstations, revealing how much a data breach might cost.