In response to news that over half of Brits are happy to share health data with the NHS for artificial intelligence, David Emm, Principal Security Researcher at Kaspersky Lab commented below.
David Emm, Principal Security Researcher at Kaspersky Lab:
“The use of technology brings great benefits – especially in the time- and budget-strapped healthcare industry – but these advancements must be deployed with caution. The news today that over half of Brits are happy to share health data with the NHS reinforces the trust placed in organisations despite recent attacks such as WannaCry – and demonstrates the need for robust security. Consumers – and organisations – must remain vigilant, as health data is an attractive proposition for criminals. Laptops and mobile devices are proliferating both inside and outside hospitals and health organisations – and as interconnected medical devices that, increasingly, operate on common IT platforms, they are susceptible to the same security risks as traditional IT devices. This rapid pace of change means that hospitals are under pressure to maintain numerous isolated IT assets.
“With the aid of this increased funding for the NHS, healthcare providers must work closely with their IT security teams to implement sophisticated, high-quality protection that will allow them to manage and protect customer data. Not just for the sake of ‘tick-box’ compliance, or to avoid hefty fines and embarrassing, often irreparable reputational damage, but to enable them and their patients to reap the many rewards of advanced digital healthcare, confident in the knowledge that data, devices and networks are secure.”
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