Bill Siwicki

These days, healthcare CIOs need to be especially concerned with whether their CISOs and other cybersecurity professionals are happy in their jobs. Healthcare is getting nailed with cyberattacks, including high-profile assaults like WannaCry, Petya and NotPetya. What’s more, nearly half of cybersecurity professionals said there have been security incidents similar to WannaCry that they worked on just as frantically that the public never hears about, according to a recent survey conducted at the Infosecurity Europe 2017 event by cybersecurity vendor Farsight Security. [Also: WannaCry was not so shocking for nearly half of cybersecurity pros] In order to mount the best defense, healthcare C-suite executives need to make sure the workers defending the castle are content. And according to a new survey from Farsight, these workers are pretty happy despite some challenges. More than half (57 percent) of IT security professionals work weekends and, on average, nearly a third (29 percent) work ten hours a day, the survey of 360 information security professionals found. But despite the overtime, nearly all (97 percent) said they still find their job rewarding and the vast majority (85 percent) said they plan to stay in security, the survey said. [Also: Expert tips on bracing for future WannaCry attacks] This enthusiasm for the job and the intent to stay are good news for healthcare leaders, considering today’s cybersecurity skills shortage and the increasing financial and other implications of cybercrime. “Securing the Internet, our businesses and national infrastructure is one of the world’s most critical challenges,” said Paul Vixie, CEO, co-founder and chairman of Farsight Security. “Cybersecurity professionals work hard behind the scenes to avert disasters that we rarely hear about, and we need more like them.” In addition to working weekends, 51 percent of survey respondents said they more than once had missed an important event due to a security-related incident at work. Twitter: @SiwickiHealthIT Email the writer: bill.siwicki@himssmedia.com Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook and LinkedIn

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT outlined several actionable steps that hospitals and doctors can take today to improve the process of requesting medical data to the benefit of both patients and providers.

U.S. eye specialists reach out through a special system based in part on Skype for Business.

Since they all face the same risks, it only makes sense that they share their defense strategies.

The companies have created six health apps to date, and the unique partnership has more planned for the future.

As attack surfaces become more common across various industries, the fact that this tactic has already worked elsewhere means hospitals can use the best practice too.

The move could help the NantHealth founder and billionaire biotech mogul, who is embroiled in various controversies, with precision medicine efforts.

Infosec pros share tips on working with device manufacturers as well as questions that hospitals need to be answering now.

There is a significant gap between threats organizations face and their readiness to address those in a timely or effective manner.

Privacy and security lapses can quickly become professional liability and medical malpractice risks if healthcare organizations aren’t prepared.