Digital healthcare systems are one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. They allow health care professionals to network and exchange important information. Patients records and lab results are documented online. Good patient care results from data integration and clinical support.
Nonetheless, these technologies are prone to huge risks. Cybersecurity is a big concern for the online healthcare industry. Hijackers can cause immense damage to healthcare industries. For example, a report from January 2019 tells about Israel researchers who announced that they had created a computer virus that could add tumors into CT and MRI scans. This malware would trick doctors causing them to misdiagnose. A wrong diagnosis can be life-threatening for patients. Reports like these are a cause for concern.
A survey conducted by The Doctor Company with over 100 healthcare leaders had useful findings. It indicated that the majority of healthcare providers were concerned about data security, believing that the healthcare industry was most impacted by cybersecurity lapses.
In 2017, a global cyberattack on the National Health Service created a storm, as computers in 150 countries were infected. Researchers believed that the hacking tools were developed by the US National Security Agency.
In the same year, NotPetya cyberattack caused $10 billion in damage to healthcare companies. Medical transportation service Nuance was most affected, with its systems shut down for weeks, leaving thousands of health care delivery organizations stranded.
A 2019 study Integris Software tells us that 70% of healthcare companies keep the location of their data confidential, yet 25% of healthcare companies faced a mobile security breach in 2018.
Recently, 19 million patient records were stolen from the American Medical Collection Agency, a cyberattack that left the public shocked and dismayed.
A 2019 report from Proofpoint showed that email fraud in healthcare rose by 473%.
A 2019 Thales Data Threat reported that while 100% of healthcare organizations stored and saved sensitive data with digital technologies, only 38% or less encrypted their data.
Artificial intelligence can reduce risks in digital healthcare systems. AI can be used for setting smart medical records to help set appointments, access hospital records and diagnose patients.
However, machine learning does not eliminate the problems of cybersecurity.
Sutter Health uses artificial intelligence technology to deal with their everyday cyber attacks, which numbered 87 billion in 2018. With that big number, manual testing can simply not keep pace. Automated processes are the only way to ensure security testing is performed to apply software patches and prevent phishing attacks. Healthcare app testing companies have the expertise to take care of all these concerns.
Healthcare app testing companies have testing processes that are driven by artificial intelligence methods like machine learning. They can also perform reverse engineering source code to identify security flaws. These could help overcome the security problems of EHR and other healthcare app features. They can provide tips on better security for email features. They can provide customized support for the security of devices. Compatibility testing would ensure all components are integrated and tested for security.
The healthcare industry has to keep pace with the latest software testing tools and ensure their technology is safe from cyberattacks.
Author Bio:
Ray Parker is a senior marketing consultant with a knack for writing about the latest news in tech, quality assurance, software development and testing. With a decade of experience working in the tech industry, Ray now dabbles out of his New York office.
