Comment: NHS Digital + National Cyber Security Centre collaboration
September 2016 by Stephen Love, Security Practice Lead – EMEA at Insight comments
Stephen Love, Security Practice Lead – EMEA at Insight comments:
“There is an increasingly high value placed on personal data like healthcare records by those that want to steal them. This is why it is fantastic to see that NHS Digital is planning to work closely with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to boost its security capabilities. However, while this is a step in the right direction, it is but one step. While all industries are vulnerable to cyber-attacks, the healthcare sector is going to increasingly feel the effects. The return on investment for stealing its data is a lot more notable and has more long-term use to the hacker. If this sensitive information becomes public knowledge, these are facts that cannot be changed nor forgotten.”
“NHS Digital, along with other healthcare organisations, must be prepared for the inevitable – we will see a rise in cyber-attacks on our health system. However, there are tools and practices that can be implemented to not only reduce the likelihood of these attacks from successfully infiltrating establishments, but can reduce the fall out of an attack – the most effective method being data encryption. Every organisation should be able to admit; “Yes, our network was hacked and data was stolen. However, your personal data is secure. Yes, our network was hacked and data was stolen. However, the personal data is secure. It has made no difference to the institution - reputational or financial - as we have we have taken all necessary measures to ensure that the data, if it falls into the wrong hands, is useless.”