Cyber Security for Dentists
Dental cyber security needs are more unique than your average small business. Every day we handle thousands of pieces of regulated and protected patient data. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has regulated the use and handling of this data, however the department has left dentists with little assistance on how to protect it. Through HIPAA the government covers regulations on the use and exposure of patient data, but again, stops short on how to properly protect that data.
The FBI is the protection arm of the government when it comes to ransomware attacks on patient data from outside or foreign threats. This however has two major flaws. The first is that the FBI is not part of HHS, which means that these agencies are not working together. HHS recommends you pay the ransom to get back any patient data, and the FBI recommends you do not pay the ransom and has actually criminalized the action! The other flaw is that the FBI is helpless in extraditing foreign nationals even when they do catch them. Right now cyber criminals have a higher chance of dying falling out of bed than they do going to jail for ransoming data.
So what is a dentist to do?! It is our job to put good basic cyber hygiene into place. It is a privilege to treat our patients, and they put their lives and their health information into our hands. We need to care for their data in the same way we care for their health. We do it for them, but we also do it for the health of our business.
A Siligent consultation can begin the process by helping to identify your cyber hygiene needs. Check out our blog to get an in-depth look at what that means for your business. Just as our hygienists do maintenance for our patients, we need to ensure basic regular maintenance is completed for our own IT systems.
The threats continue to evolve, and it's our job at Siligent to find what works for you and your practice, you don't have to do this alone! Contact us today for a free scan to assess your cyber hygiene and find out how we can help protect you and your patient data.
