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Hospital cybersecurity after ‘WannaCry’ attack

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Here’s a look at health systems’ ability to fight off future cyberattacks in the wake of the recent massive “WannaCry” ransomware attack, some of which was directed against hospitals, most infamously against Britain’s National Health Service.

FierceHealthcare reported that IT workforce shortages and patch management have “raised concerns about the industry’s ability to fight of future attacks that may be even more targeted. Some of these concerns are addressed in a report from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Cybersecurity Task Force, which is expected to be released next week.”

One of the most interesting comments in the piece is that patching systems isn’t as easy as you might think:

 

“The WannaCry attack also exposed some of the nuanced complications hospitals face when it comes to patching or upgrading software.

“Patch management and inventory management have been particularly difficult for healthcare organizations that have various iterations of software throughout the system and often lack a robust approach to asset management. In addition to coordinating updates for thousands of machines, hospital IT teams have to account for various software layered on top of the operating system that could be rendered inoperable following a security patch.”

Hit this link to read the article.

 

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