Adapting to Cybersecurity: Strategies for Complex Digital Threats

Cybersecurity Threats in the Healthcare Sector

The effects advent and evolution of technology have also been witnessed in the healthcare sector. Healthcare institutions are increasingly adopting the utilization of smart medical equipment and mobile devices, which makes them more prone to cyber breaches. The complexity and size of hospital operations, together with the existence of several conventional and outdated systems, further hinder the employment of effective cybersecurity strategies.

As a result, this leads to the embrace of the “if-it-is-broken-do-not-fix-it” notion among high-level healthcare managers (Abraham et al., 2019). The existence of compliance regulations, federal and state healthcare laws, and the security guidance framework further complicates the sphere of cybersecurity and often effects in the management presuming a state of blissful ignorance. This strategic plan functions to assist healthcare organizations minimize cybersecurity threats in a cost-effective and all-rounded manner. This will be achieved by providing actionable, feasible, and relevant cybersecurity advice that applies to healthcare organizations of all sizes.

Cybersecurity Strategic Planning Governance

For an in-house cybersecurity strategic plan to be successful, it has to involve a high-level employee, which in this case, it is recommended to be sponsored by a Chief Information Officer (CIO). This position is most suitable as it is among the high-level managerial position; therefore, this minimizes the likelihood of the development and successful implementation of the cybersecurity plan from being mired in internal politics (Smallwood, 2014).

The recent rise of enterprise Information Technology (IT) decision management strategies and data governance have established the need for cultivating essential relationships within the Office of the CIO. The CIO should be seconded by the Chief Data Officer (CDO). The CDO facilitates the creation of a detailed data classification, which will allow for appropriate classification, thereby directing the selection of security controls and testing criteria. The Enterprise IT Decision Management (EITDM) team will ensure that all new or modified systems are in alignment with architectures and interfaces to improve cybersecurity.

The Office of Cybersecurity will also partner with the Division of Information Technology (DoIT) to coordinate the functions of security testing, risk management, governance, cyber defense, and compliance. Other required personnel include a representative from the legal staff, and Information Governance project manager, a risk management specialist and a senior records officer (Smallwood, 2014). Depending on the scope of the strategic plan, a team of employees from specific business units, the human resource and the communications department might be recruited (Smallwood, 2014).