Nowadays, senior living centers have started to depend on digital technologies. This also makes them prime targets for cyberattacks, which can be devastating, especially with the sensitive and financial information stored in the systems. Therefore, it is essential to keep an eye on the cyber risk and safeguard the facility as well as the residents. In this blog, we will shed some light on how to assess your senior living center’s cyber risk.
Cyber Risks in Senior Living Center
Senior living centers have a significant amount of sensitive data, such as personally identifiable information and protected health information. They are particularly vulnerable due to many factors, as they store sensitive data, have limited resources and a lack of robust cybersecurity, and can fall victim to different types of scams.
If the senior living center undergoes a cyberattack, it can result in possible loss of access to medical records and other essential data that can compromise the facility’s ability to function. A phishing attack can give hackers unauthorized access to business data and even result in fraudulent fund transfers.
So, it is important to assess the cyber risk in a senior living center.
Assessing Cyber Risk in Senior Living Center
Here are some steps on how to assess a senior living center’s living cyber risk:
- Identify Your Assets and Vulnerabilities: You can start by creating an inventory of the patient medical records, employee data, financial information, and all the data assets. This way, you can assess what is valuable and requires good security.
- Inspect System Accessibility: Many personal devices and cloud services may be used within a facility. Auditing accessibility can help you understand current and past employee accessibility. This allows you to track accessibility and maintain security of the patients.
- Locate Legacy Systems: Hardware and software vendors stop updating older products with the changes in technology. Known as legacy systems, these older tools can be at potential risk of a cyberattack. They might also break down and fall! Therefore, it is important to locate legacy systems and take note of how many of the old systems the senior living center depends on for daily operations.
- Check Data Recovery Plans: Data loss can result from failing old hardware, power outages, natural disasters, and cyberattacks. Before you find yourself without important data and programs, review your data recovery plan so that you do not have to pay the price later. You should consider local threats, geographic diversity, and backup plans to assess your data recovery plan and save the senior living center from cyberattacks.
- Address the Cybersecurity Risks: Once you have assessed the possible cybersecurity risks, it is time to take action. You can create a plan while keeping the weaker areas in mind. This might involve training employees, educating residents, documenting policies, partnering with experts, and taking all the necessary steps.
Final Note
It is important to assess cybersecurity risks in senior living centers, as it helps protect sensitive data and ensure safety. Start by identifying vulnerabilities, inspecting the system accessibility, locating legacy systems, checking the data recovery plans, and addressing the cybersecurity risks.
Exordium Networks provides trusted and safe IT solutions. You can contact us at (972) 573-1180.