Supply chain management was the second lowest-scoring and least mature category assessed in CynergisTek’s survey, which revealed that most hospitals critically lack the ability to secure their supply chain systems.
Even among high-performing organizations that have significantly improved over the past four years, scores averaged 2.7 out of 5. With an acceptable score above a 3, only 23% of organizations passed on supply chain security – and barely – not even high performers achieved above a 3.
“The past year has been arguably the most trying on the U.S. and global healthcare systems. We saw cybercriminals attack hospitals and healthcare institutions when they were at their most vulnerable – the industry made it through, granted with some bumps and bruises,” says Caleb Barlow, president and CEO of CynergisTek. “It is the responsibility now – of stakeholders, C-suite, IT managers and anyone involved in protecting our healthcare system – to ensure that patient care remains resilient even in an environment with growing cyberattacks. The report demonstrates there is work to be done, but there are also immediate opportunities to shore up risk management practices.”
From BusinessWire:
· CynergisTek found that organizations struggle to validate whether third-party partners are meeting contractual security obligations, time and resources to supply chain security before risks expand exponentially.
“It's clear that this is not the right time to cut back on cybersecurity, and that smart spending will be necessary to secure organizations against a rising tide of ransomware threats against critical infrastructure generally, and healthcare specifically. As we ride out the remainder of 2021, it's within your power to ensure that the economic impacts of the digital transformation on your organization are net positive – assuming you make the right, proactive decisions to protect your assets, patients and environment now,” adds David Finn, EVP at CynergisTek.