The Lure Of Cybersecurity “Workarounds” In Healthcare

From Kaspersky Lab, a look at an academic study of cybersecurity in the healthcare setting, a subject that has been in the news a lot lately, as breaches, including ransom attacks, have become more frequent and more brazen. Passwords, the study found, “are seen as an annoyance, not as a patient safety effort.” Although it is highly critical of hospitals, including both IT and medical staff, the study makes clear that the problems in large part follow from awkward and time-consuming security procedures, something that plagues computer users in any setting, especially those in high stress business situations. When you add the stress of short or marginal staffing in a milieu where life and health are at stake, it becomes a crisis issue. The title of the study, which came from researchers at University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth and the University of Southern California, says it all: “Workarounds to Computer Access in Healthcare Organizations: You Want My Password or a Dead Patient?”