Many businesses capture, manage and store sensitive data, but few have to worry about the extreme compliance issues required in the world of life sciences. Studies show that the cost of breaches easily tops $3.86 million in 2018 — at the cost of approximately $148 per individual record compromised. However, the primary cause of these biotech and pharmaceutical data breaches might surprise you — the vast majority of all breaches come as the result of phishing attacks. This stark trend insinuates that keeping your internal security in order is every bit as important as ensuring that your firewalls and other external security mechanisms are working properly. Here are a few suggestions from the experts at Coretelligent on keeping your protected health information and intellectual property data safe from internal and external threats.
Monitor Sensitive Data in Physical and Digital Form
There are likely terabytes of data being stored within your organization that may no longer be needed. This information is not benefiting your life sciences business, but it does represent an unnecessary risk that is also a temptation for criminals. Putting in place a strategy that actively reviews and deletes vital information that is no longer viable or needed can help reduce the risk to your organization. An audit of physical and digital information and access points helps form the basis for your cybersecurity strategies in the future.
IoT Security is Imperative
There are millions of connected devices in life sciences, each with the potential to become weaponized by hackers or malicious internal users. Everything from laptops to wearables are a potential threat to your network and the billions of data points that you store. Your WiFi network is an essential element of your security infrastructure, and how each of these devices are managed within that network is of the utmost importance. Be sure patches are applied as soon as they become available, as these are some of the exploits that cybercriminals look for regularly.
Schedule Frequent User Training Sessions
The majority of users are going about their daily work and not planning to take malicious action. However, these well-meaning professionals can be just as dangerous to the security of your sensitive information as a hacker. Helping your users understand the consequences of clicking on an ad or taking action based on a fraudulent email can help protect your biotechnology or pharmaceutical business from disaster.
Regularly Review and Upgrade Perimeter Security
Your business network is protected from external forces by the thinnest of margins: firewalls and antivirus software, anti-malware and more. Safeguarding your network involves not only reviewing and upgrading your perimeter security but also keeping a close watch on how your data is passed between vendors and other information partners. Each data connection should be considered an extension of your data perimeter and should be carefully reviewed.
The cost of breaches continues to rise while consumer confidence in data security remains low, a damaging prospect for organizations in the life sciences sector. The professionals at Coretelligent work with high-risk entities to ensure that your data and business systems are secure from internal and external pressures. Contact us today at 855-841-5888 or via email to info@coretelligent.com for more information on how we can support your security needs as well as help improve infrastructure and boost productivity for your business.
