Health and safety

Is your health data safe? Iagon knows how to secure it.

💡 This article is reprinted here from Iagon corporate blog.

Nearly every technological advancement embraced by the healthcare industry brings new challenges along. The progressive digitization of health data processed by healthcare facilities or collected by smartwatches and other mobile devices leads to a burning question: who is in charge of all that information, and can they be trusted?

Digital health problems

Data, seemingly the most valuable commodity of the 21st century, is a highly vulnerable resource. Health data, or — more precisely — your health data, is no different. You might be wondering why anyone other than your doctor would be interested in your sore throat or high blood pressure, but there’s more to it. As being fit has become a status symbol, we track our morning runs or bicycle rides and brag about a new PB on social media. This way, we supply companies like Facebook, Google, Samsung, or Apple with more information than we might think. Eating habits, training routines, physical fitness — all this can be built into statistical models and sold off to advertising companies and sports equipment manufacturers.

What about medical records? Yes, you already know where this is going. We will happily boast about your achievements, but less so when it comes to illnesses, which is why such data is valuable to pharmaceutical companies. Or anyone, for that matter. Medical records processed at healthcare facilities contain names, addresses, social security numbers, medical history, etc. The loss of such vital personal information may result in, among others, fraud or reputational damage.

As it turns out, cyberattacks designed to harvest patient-related information are not uncommon. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights, nearly 700 data breaches (involving 500 or more records) occurred in 2021, resulting in almost 45 million healthcare records being exposed or stolen. The privacy of patients is only one side of the coin, however. Medical facilities can be harmed in several ways as well. The threat actors may maliciously delete medical data, encrypt all files and demand a ransom, or divert payrolls to their accounts. Breaches may also be followed by negligence lawsuits.

Security measures aside, digitalizing all those medical records serves a purpose. It can streamline the transfer of data between patients, healthcare facilities, and other organizations. Even so, with so many potential actors involved, software incompatibility and the lack of a common authentication standard raise serious concerns.

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