Program designed to help healthcare companies assess and manage growing security risk, protect critical patient data
Wombat Security Technologies (Wombat), the leading provider of cyber security awareness and training solutions, today launched a comprehensive new healthcare program designed to help healthcare providers protect critical patient information as the threat of a data breach continues to rise.
According to Symantec’s 2015 Internet Security Breach Report, the healthcare sector has reported the largest number of data breaches for four years in a row. The report states that there are 37 percent of breaches are within healthcare more than triple the number of breaches that happen in retail which was reported to be only 11 percent.
Wombat’s solution is a bundled package, offering CyberStrength knowledge assessments, ThreatSim simulated phishing attack tool, interactive training modules, and security awareness materials. It is designed to give healthcare providers the necessary tools to protect and deflect data breaches within the busy pace of their organizations. The program includes automatically assigning training to users who need it most, allowing users to track and measure progress and dynamically tailoring program efforts to address specific threats as they continue to evolve. Wombat’s auto-enrollment feature, and short, interactive training modules are an ideal fit for an industry faced with unique challenges in regard to staff and shift management.
Wombat’s solutions helped their customers achieve a 90 percent reduction in successful phishing attacks and malware infections. “Since partnering with Wombat, we’ve seen a significant increase in user awareness and recognition of suspicious emails,” said the Senior Manager of IT Operation at Monongahela Valley Hospital. “Instead of clicking on these messages, our employees have caught and alerted us to more than ten separate phishing attacks, and in the ten months following the launch of our Wombat training program, we have seen a dramatic decline in infections caused by inappropriate email activity.”
“Our partnership with Wombat has been a true success and has helped us to educate individuals at all levels of our organization, which we feel is critical to protecting our patient’s healthcare information, our employees’ data, and our internal networks and systems,” he added.
The cost of a data breach is a rising concern for the healthcare industry. A report by Ponemon/IBM, 2015 Cost of a Data Breach Study, found that the average global per-record cost of a healthcare data breach is $363, which is more than twice the $154 average per-record cost across all global industries.
“Healthcare institutions are increasingly targeted by hackers, making it absolutely critical to deliver effective training to anyone who is not well-informed of HIPAA-mandated safeguards,” said Joe Ferrara, President and CEO of Wombat Security. “Our new healthcare program gives organizations a powerful suite of tools to protect healthcare information and patient records, while improving an organizations security posture. We are committed to providing our customers with the tools they need to change employee behavior and reduce risk within their organizations.”
The Healthcare Security Awareness and Training Program includes a best practices document, providing guidance on running a successful program in a healthcare setting and showing how all of the pieces of this bundle fit into the four key steps of Wombat’s Continuous Training Methodology: Assess, Educate, Reinforce, and Measure). The complete program components are:
Assessments (for baseline measurements and to track improvements)
- CyberStrength – Predefined Health Info (PHI) CyberStrengh assessment that includes questions specific to PHI and the latest HIPAA standard
- ThreatSim – Wombat’s simulated phishing attack tool, including healthcare-specific simulated phishing templates
Education Modules – Short, interactive training modules available on-demand
- Protected Health Information
- Email Security
- Data Protection and Destruction
- Physical Security
Reinforcement Components
- PhishAlarm – Email Button for quick reporting of suspicious emails
- Security Awareness Materials – Posters, articles, images and security-minded giveaways
Measurement Tools
- Each product has reporting and analytic tools to identify areas of weakness and measure progress
Wombat’s Continuous Training Methodology has been shown to reduce successful phishing and malware infections by up to 90%. Their market-leading approach and award winning Security Education Platform currently helps over 1,000 enterprise organizations change employee behavior and dramatically reduce the risk of a cyber-attack.