Introduction

As digital technology becomes increasingly central to our lives , so the critical services we depend on also need to be managed digitally . In the healthcare sector , this transformation manifests itself in the digitization of diagnoses and treatment recommendations , prescriptions , and other patient-specific data . Controlling this extremely sensitive and potentially life-changing information demands that protecting digital data and devices against theft , loss or misuse becomes mission critical for all healthcare organizations .

The essential nature of data protection within the healthcare industry is not only being driven by increasing volumes of sensitive digital patient data . Patient data security and privacy regulations are also increasing in number and complexity in the digital era . In the US , these include Personal Health Information Protection Act ( PHIPA ) or the Health Insurance Profitability and Accountability Act ( HIPPA ) among many others . In Europe they include the EU ’ s General Data Protection Regulation and numerous other country- and industry-specific statutes . Failure to abide by these regulations can expose healthcare organizations to very significant financial penalties and legal expenses , sometimes measured in the millions of dollars .

At the same time , the number and severity of data security breaches caused by externally driven cyber-attacks using malware , ransomware or data exfiltration is significant and growing . For example , in the US , the HIPPA Journal reported a 25 % increase in breaches between 2019 and 2020 . �

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