Protecting patient privacy in the age of smart healthcare: practical cybersecurity measures for individuals and healthcare providers
1 Department of Public Health, School of Public Health, Texila American University, Georgetown, Guyana.
2 Department of Applied Statistics and Decision Analytics, Western Illinois University, USA.
3 Department of Family Medicine, Federal University Teaching Hospital, Lokoja, Nigeria.'
Research Article
World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2024, 23(01), 3047–3050
Article DOI: 10.30574/wjarr.2024.23.1.2334
Publication history:
Received on 23June 2024; revised on 28 July 2024; accepted on 31 July 2024
Abstract:
The rise of smart healthcare technologies, including wearable devices, telemedicine, and the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), has significantly transformed patient care. However, these advancements have also introduced critical cybersecurity vulnerabilities. This paper explores the escalating threats to patient privacy in the digital age, highlighting substantial increase in cyberattacks on healthcare systems, with data breaches averaging $10.1 million per incident. Analysis reveals several prominent cyber threats to smart healthcare technologies, such as ransomware, phishing, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks, malware, SQL injection, and insider threats, all of which compromise the confidentiality and integrity of patient data. Notably, ransomware attacks have surged by 123% in recent years, severely disrupting patient care and privacy. To mitigate these risks, this commentary proposes actionable cybersecurity measures for both healthcare providers and individuals. Healthcare organizations should conduct thorough risk assessments, implement stringent access controls, encrypt sensitive data, provide comprehensive cybersecurity training for staff, and establish robust incident response plans. Concurrently, individuals are encouraged to remain vigilant about cybersecurity threats, secure their personal devices, use only reputable healthcare applications, be cautious with data sharing, and regularly monitor their health information. By adopting these strategies, both healthcare providers and patients can better safeguard sensitive health information and strengthen the security framework of smart healthcare systems.
Keywords:
Smart healthcare; Cybersecurity; Patient privacy; Cyber threats; Data protection
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Copyright © 2024 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0