CyberSecurity and Modern Dentistry

Politics aside, we can all agree that our news agencies are notorious for only showing negative news. From a local news agency, all the way up to the major broadcast networks, they are feigning for new news. When a business suffers a breach, it is not outreach that they receive. Instead, it is degradation and belittlement. Because hindsight is 20/20 right? It is easy to point the finger at a company for not getting that “insurance policy” after it has been hacked into and the company has to notify thousands of families that they lost their and their children’s identities.  As society progresses and we become more and more technologically dependent upon the devices around us, so too do the cyber criminals looking for ways into company’s data. Just like we have written in the past about CyberSecurity being affordable, there should not be any reasons for any practices to not secure their data. 

Healthcare is the most widely targeted industry when it comes to data breaches. It is an unfortunate fact but with the amount of revenue and personal information flowing through their systems it is like a gold mine to cyber criminals. For the last century and half people have been locking their files in a cabinet in a locked office. The biggest step was the Internet. That revolutionized everything. Fast forward to the modern era and we now have what is known as “the cloud.” An infinitely vast space for data storage that, when set up correctly, is almost impenetrable.  As opportunities for data storage grew, data security slowly started to drift backwards. Why? Because businesses have always been focused on their bottom line and didn’t want to pay for an “insurance” that they didn’t have an active need for. That was, until 2005 when the first major data breach occurred. So, what is the first thing to go, besides the data and the money, when a breach occurs? Your identity and reputation. 

In a study done by Experian on the Reputation Impact of a Data Breach: U.S. Study of Executives & Managers, which is based off multiple large organizations economic value, they found: 

We asked individuals participating in our study to estimate the economic value of their organizations’ corporate brand or reputation. The responses ranged from a value of less than $1 million to more than $10 billion. Using an extrapolation method, we determined the average value of reputation or brand image for the organizations participating in the study – which is estimated as $1.56 billion. Depending upon the type of information lost as a result of the breach, the average loss in the value of the brand ranged from $184 million to more than $332 million. 

Depending on the brand and its reputation, the value could decline as much as 17% to over 31%. 

On the small business side, it’s even worse. Over 43% of all cyber attacks are targeted toward small businesses. Of that 43%, 60% of victims will be forced to close their doors because of the reputational impacts and economic fallout. 

If 3 out of 4 small businesses don’t have an IT team in place in case of cyber shortfalls, what can a small business do that doesn’t have the overhead for another position? Well, we mentioned before that technology has progressed and that security kind of fell behind. In those 15 years since the first major data breach, cyber security professionals found a way to mitigate those challenges more efficiently and cheaper than hiring an entire team. At Steel Patriot Partners, we make it simple and easy for medical practices to secure data without becoming CyberSecurity experts themselves. We don’t overwhelm our clients with “tech talk” because none of us are computers. We don’t over promise or under deliver and simply do what we say, protecting your practice from CyberSecurity events much like you prevent tooth decay and health issues. We manage your practice security so that you can focus on growing what is important to you. Safely and Securely. If you want to talk more about cybersecurity, please reach out by emailing us at [email protected], calling 703.297.4405, or use our website contact form.