With cybersecurity, healthcare organizations typically consider monitoring telehealth systems for unusual activity, backing up sensitive information, encrypting confidential records, etc. These efforts are crucial—however, network resilience is another equally important element of any cybersecurity strategy. Healthcare organizations need a resilient network to ensure connectivity remains unbroken for the applications and devices that facilitate patient care. Nevertheless, such network resilience is becoming harder to maintain.
The Consequences of Network Disruptions
Always-on connectivity is difficult to uphold today because of the ever-evolving security and networking landscape. Networks continue to integrate new technology into their systems. Cloud services and Internet of Things (IoT) tools, for example, expand the attack surface, increasing the likelihood of cyberattacks and disruptions. Also, cybercriminals consistently enhance their schemes, employing sophisticated technologies and methods. If and when a breach occurs, the network can become inaccessible, jeopardizing patient safety and clinician productivity.
In May this year, a cyberattack hit one of the nation’s largest private healthcare systems, affecting hospitals across several states, including Wisconsin, Michigan, and Florida. Workers reported interruptions to patient care and other clinical operations. Likewise, a cyberattack against another health tech giant prevented hospitals from checking insurance benefits of in-patient stays and processing bills for medical services. Without access to their health insurance records, pharmacies could not determine how much to charge patients for prescriptions.
Research calculating the average cost of downtime found that for larger organizations, the price can be as high as $9,000 per minute. For higher-risk industries, like healthcare, it can be as high as $5 million an hour. Because healthcare organizations handle sensitive patient information, like banking data, Social Security numbers and other personally identifiable information (PII), security breaches can cause costly penalties and fines, not to mention reputational damage. People have already filed lawsuits against one of the healthcare corporations for the data breach.
Strengthening Network Resilience Through Out of Band Management
There are network strategies healthcare organizations can use to bolster network resilience and safeguard patient safety through the continuity of vital healthcare services—in particular, Out of Band management (OOB). OOB refers to a method where network engineers separate and containerize the management plane from the data plane. Even if the production network gets breached by cybercriminals, engineers can remotely access this isolated management plane via the OOB network. Network engineers can also use OOB management to monitor and manage devices without affecting normal operations.
OOB management provides a healthcare organization’s network engineers with an alternative path to remediate critical devices regardless of the status of the primary network, minimizing the duration and severity of network disruptions. This greater network resiliency through OOB management ensures secure, always-on availability to uphold clinician productivity and patient safety. Furthermore, OOB management is a viable means of adhering to the healthcare industry’s strict regulatory requirements, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act standards.
Intelligence Automation in Out of Band Management
Leading OOB management offerings build on traditional OOB by incorporating automation and artificial intelligence to make the solution ‘smarter.’ For example, best-in-class OOB solutions can automatically detect and remediate issues, allowing healthcare organizations to identify and resolve faults before they become failures. Automated troubleshooting and remediation at the network’s edge also help healthcare organizations reduce operating costs.
Recall that networks continue to become more complex because of the influx of new technologies like IoT devices and the cloud, which not only place greater strain on the network but also expand the attack surface. Thankfully, enhanced OOB solutions are highly scalable and capable of managing the infrastructure of hundreds of sites and thousands of devices. Moreover, these advanced OOB solutions can integrate seamlessly with existing IT networks and management systems, accelerating deployments.
Closing Consideration
It is important to point out a key delineation between OOB management and cybersecurity tools/software in that the former does not outright prevent cyberattacks. However, cyberattacks aren’t a matter of if but when—especially for the healthcare sector—and in the inevitable event that one occurs, OOB management allows the network to continue operating despite disruptions. As such, OOB management should be equally valuable to one’s overall cybersecurity strategy.
Tracy Collins
Tracy has over 25 years of experience in leadership positions in the IT and Infrastructure industry. Prior to joining Opengear, Tracy led the Americas business for EkkoSense, the leading provider of AI/ML software that allows data center operators to operate more efficiently. Prior to joining EkkoSense, Tracy was the CEO of Alabama based Simple Helix, a regional colocation data center operator and MSP. Tracy spent over 21 years with Vertiv, in various leadership positions including leading the global channel organization.
Tracy has an extensive background in sales leadership, and channel development with a strong track record of driving growth while improving profitability. Tracy holds both a Bachelors of Science, Business Administration, and a Masters of Science in Management from the University of Alabama – Huntsville.
