The Role of Endpoint Security in Today’s Healthcare IT Environment

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This is the number of opportunities a cybercriminal needs to exploit healthcare network vulnerabilities, steal passwords, install malware, and ultimately work their way through the entire IT ecosystem. Once inside, they could hijack control of medical equipment, gain access to patient data, and much more, ultimately putting patient lives and organizational reputation on the line.

The shift towards deploying and managing a more patient-friendly healthcare environment that includes the myriad of devices being accessed by patients and employees can be very challenging, especially when it comes to endpoint security.

Let’s take a closer look at the role endpoint security plays in today’s healthcare environment, and why it needs to be part of the larger network security puzzle. 

Supporting the Patient-Centric Care Movement

Healthcare providers of all types are now being required to provide platforms that allow for seamless communication and collaboration between key stakeholders. As a result, information that needs to be securely shared and stored is now flowing at an increasingly rapid rate, and in many different directions, creating a need for security solutions that can support these exchanges.

This move towards patient-centric network services has decentralized the monitoring process and resulted in patients, providers, and other stakeholders accessing information that originates from outside the hospital’s physical walls.

The more information accessed and shared outside the hospital setting, the greater the risk of malicious content working its way inside. While some healthcare systems are adjusting to these changes by employing endpoint security and robust security solutions, there are still a number of organizations that have left the doors to their data wide open. Endpoint security is critical to keeping the patient and other stakeholders’ data secure.

Securing Endpoints Related to the Increased BYOD Interest

The growing number of connected devices used by employees in the healthcare sector is leading to more information sharing, but it’s also placing the endpoint at greater risk than ever before. It’s very common to see smartphones, tablets, and laptops being used inside today’s hospitals, and the data that’s being accessed needs to be secured, from the Internet to the endpoint. This data often contains sensitive medical information that’s being shared between healthcare professionals, including medical imaging data, transcriptions, prescriptions, and more, and typically needs to be vetted by a number of different individuals (physicians, employers, claims processors, etc.) to determine protocols and procedures.

This need for a collaborative digital workspace to enable internal and external collaboration makes it critical that endpoint security be taken seriously. Without appropriate endpoint security solutions in place, healthcare systems will not be able to enhance their existing systems and processes without an overabundance of risk.

An Endpoint Blueprint for Success

Solely deploying security end to end is simply not enough in today’s healthcare industry, as it lacks two key components – integration and automation. Endpoint security, today and in the future, needs to be part of a much larger security framework that can work together with other security elements, like threat intelligence.

From inside the network to the cloud, powerful and integrated end-to-end solutions need to protect the attack surface at all points along the kill chain. When different security sensors and tools are able to work together to collect, analyze, and coordinate a response to threats, the entire healthcare environment will be better protected. Security solutions must be ready and able to deal with the sophisticated threats of today in real time.

Let’s get a conversation going on Twitter! What role do you think endpoint security plays in today’s healthcare IT environment and where do you think we are headed in 2017 and beyond?

Written by Susan Biddle, Sr. Director of Healthcare at Fortinet

Hontiveros to Investigate Incident that Led to Woman Giving Birth in Cab

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The Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health vowed on Monday to investigate possible violations to the Anti-Hospital Deposit Law after a woman reportedly gave birth last week inside a taxicab in Quezon City after being refused by two hospitals.

Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros said that the incident will be on the agenda at the second hearing of her bill that aims to strengthen Republic Act No. 8344, a law that prohibits hospitals from asking for deposits first before treating patients with emergency needs.

According to the initial field investigation conducted by Hontiveros' office, a certain Aira Arellano was turned away by a public hospital in Caloocan City last January 11 after its staff allegedly assessed that she went into labor prematurely. They said that they had no incubator for the baby.

Arellano proceeded to the next nearest hospital but eventually gave birth inside a taxicab. Rescuers and media on the scene then brought her to a private hospital in Fairview, Quezon City. However, the attending staff allegedly only cut the umbilical cord of the infant and said that Arellano could not afford their fees prompting them to transfer to the East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC). The EAMC staff that admitted Arellano and her infant, however, said that she had a regular childbirth.

Hontiveros said that based on these accounts, it is worth investigating if the hospital in Fairview, Quezon City, violated the Anti-Hospital Deposit Law. The Senator also said that Arellano and her child were twice victimized.

"She was a victim of a private hospital that refused to admit her because she couldn't afford the deposit demanded of her, and a public hospital that lacked facilities. We cannot tolerate hospitals denying mothers and their children health services in their time of urgent need. Where will our people go if they can't get medical help from either public and private hospitals?" Hontiveros said.

Hontiveros said that she will mobilize the resources of her committee to get to the bottom of this matter. She will also coordinate with the Department of Health (DoH) to get an inventory of the facilities at public hospitals and determine legislative and budgetary interventions that can improve health services.

"No life should be unnecessarily put at risk, no person should be denied adequate and quality medical care just because they are poor and our government-run hospitals cannot adequately respond to their emergency medical needs. We have heard this unfortunate story so many times already. It's time we put an end to it," Hontiveros added.

Hontiveros filed Senate Bill No. 216 otherwise known as "The Amendments to the Anti-Hospital Deposit Act" that seek heavier penalties on hospitals that continue to demand any deposit or other form of advance payment, as a prerequisite for admission or medical treatment of an emergency patient.

Phoenix Petroleum Taps Globe Business to Boost Employee Productivity

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Leading independent and fastest-growing oil company in the country Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc. (PNX) has tapped Globe Business, the corporate information and communications technology arm of Globe Telecom, for the use of G Suite to maximize business efficiency.

Through the partnership with Globe Business, PNX was able to acquire G Suite licences that allow its employees to work better together via secure and reliable workplace tools for email, calendar, text and video chat, document creation, project websites, and online storage and sync.

“We are a growing company, making it necessary for us to acquire a simple yet powerful office tool that would enable easier communication and collaboration among our different departments. Through the help of Globe Business and G Suite, it is now easier to keep track of our progress and to keep up with numerous projects. I recommend it to anyone who wants to level up their productivity at work,” shared Alfred Reyes, PNX’s AVP for IT.

Since the establishment of its first station in Davao in 2005, PNX has expanded nationwide to build a wide network of retail stations and commercial and industrial clients. Its business covers the trading of refined petroleum products and lubricants to retail and commercial channels, operation of oil depots, storage and transport services. Its integrated logistic services include hauling and into-plane services of Jet-A1 fuels to airports and airlines and refuelling of aircraft in key cities.

Globe Senior Advisor for Enterprise and IT Enabled Services Group, Mike Frausing added: “Globe Business is all about using technology to maximize our clients’ operating efficiency which may translate to increased savings and profitability. Through G Suite, we are able to help PNX to increase productivity, reduce information technology cost by eliminating the need to purchase and maintain servers as well as keep their most important corporate data safe.”

Powered by Google Cloud, G Suite allows users to communicate faster and more conveniently with Gmail. It provides storage for up to 30GB of email per user, advanced spam filtering, lightning-fast message search, integrated text, voice and multi-person video chat.

G Suite users can also arrange meetings and organize schedules with Google Calendar, experience hassle-free file management with Google Drive which can be accessed anytime and anywhere from any device, conduct real-time collaboration with Google Docs and Google Sheets, and make beautiful presentations together with Google Slides.

At the same time, employees can create and share project website and intranet pages without any programming skills or technical support through Google Sites, connect to the right people, ideas, and information with Google+, and manage business critical information with Google Vault retention, archiving, and eDiscovery tool.

To know more about G Suite, contact your Globe Business Account Manager or visit business.globe.com.ph


PHOTO CAPTION: Globe Senior Advisor for Enterprise and IT Enabled Services Group Mike Frausing (left) and Phoenix Petroleum AVP for IT Alfred Reyes (right) display G Suite on their mobile devices.