Ransomware continues to be the most dangerous type of malware, with one in five businesses in the United States falling victim to an attack. For those who don’t know, ransomware is designed to block one’s access to a computer system until a specific sum of money is paid.
With the average cost of a data breach currently sitting at $3.86 million and brute force attacks soaring by 400% during the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring a secure network is a must for your dental practice. Lost, tampered, or leaked patient data can significantly damage your practice’s reputation and patient trust.
Phishing continues to be one of the most effective methods of cyberattack plaguing many dental practices today. Phishing refers to a technique that involves an outside entity gaining access to private networks or data with the assistance of someone with legitimate access to them, obtained through deception and social manipulation.
Data breaches pose grave threats to dental practices because they manage sensitive information relating to patients and their medical histories. If cybercriminals get a hold of this data, they can use it to commit fraud like forging credentials and making unauthorized transactions.
Despite an ever-changing digital world, email has held strong as a popular form of communication for the dental community. Email targeting has allowed cybercriminals to excel at their craft and develop new and creative ways to scam you out of personal and potentially sensitive information.
"Know thine enemy" — it means to get to know them and their motives. In this blog, we take a close look at the five types of dangerous hackers, what their motives are, and how they operate.
Script Kiddies
In terms of skill, script kiddies (or skids, for short) are at the bottom of the hacker totem pole.
Advances in technology have streamlined many processes for dental clinics, from appointment bookings to payments. The ease and convenience granted by online platforms, however, comes at a cost — and it comes in the form of risk that one must be aware of and mitigate accordingly.
Most dental clinics today rely on information technology systems for their operations, which is why it’s vital to have a solid IT infrastructure. When IT systems go down, dental offices without a backup and disaster recovery strategy are left scrambling to get their network up and running while dealing with costly damages.
Dental clinics store and handle a huge amount of sensitive patient data called protected health information (PHI). PHI is any information that identifies a specific patient, which includes:
Date of birth
Residential address
Email address
Phone number
Medical history
Insurance information
Laboratory tests and results
Mental health condition
Cybercriminals and malicious insiders looking to make easy money steal PHI to sell it on the dark web, extort money from their victims, and commit fraud.
The COVID-19 pandemic had an intense impact on the global economy and healthcare system — including the dental industry. In the early days of the pandemic, dental offices were forced to close except for emergency procedures, while other businesses quickly shifted to a work from home setting to continue their operations.
