The digital and physical worlds are not just intersecting—they are merging. And it seems clear that there are few places where the implications of such convergence pose a greater risk than in the healthcare industry, where lives are literally on the line.
To better understand the risks and concerns of this latest trend, Fortinet recently surveyed members of the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME). The survey reveals two noteworthy trends regarding the state of security in healthcare as well as what care providers need to do next.
Physical and cyber security are converging
Three-quarters of survey respondents ranked the integrating of physical controls and cybersecurity as “critical” or “important.” Physical security is used to lock down sensitive hospital areas, as well as to protect electronic patient data stored in medical devices, computers and data centers—as well as to secure access to stored paper documents. But currently, most of the physical access controls to data-sensitive areas (e.g., key card readers and number pads) in place do not collect or analyze access data or share that data with other security systems.
