The Top Technologies Healthcare Organizations Need to Implement to Improve Their Security Posture

At this point, it is very well understood that cybersecurity is not only a need for your organization, but that your security measures need to be top of the line. With how sophisticated and frequent cyber threats and attacks have gotten, there is not a single area of your organization that you can try to cut corners on to save some revenue – as those cut corners will be found and exploited, costing your organization way more than what you tried to save.

Now that adopting top technologies is a universally understood truth in the world of healthcare, only one question remains – What are the top technologies that healthcare organizations need to implement to improve their security posture? We reached out to our brilliant Healthcare IT Today Community for their answers to this question. The following is what they had to share.

Zach Evans, Chief Technology Officer at Xsolis
Implementing zero-trust architectures is no longer optional — it’s imperative. As cyber threats continue to evolve, organizations must transition from a model of implicit trust to one of continuous verification. Zero trust tools and technologies are the backbone of a resilient security posture, enabling us to safeguard our assets, data, and operations within an increasingly complex digital landscape. This approach isn’t just about countering today’s threats — it’s about constructing a security framework robust and adaptable enough to withstand the unknown challenges of tomorrow.

Cecil Pineda, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer at R1
There are several key areas healthcare organizations must focus on to protect their business and member data. In order to comprehensively protect data, identifies, applications, networks, and web connectivity, a cohesive technology stack is required. I would encourage organizations to begin with data protection tools like encryption, access control, data visibility (data security posture management), and an effective DLP program. For endpoints, implement effective EDR and layer this with complementary tools. Ensure all technologies interoperate seamlessly to maximize benefits and minimize noise, enabling the security team to focus on genuine alerts.

William Ogle, Senior Director of Governance, Risk, and Compliance at Nordic Consulting
To improve their security posture, healthcare organizations should focus on implementing the following top technologies:

• Advanced-Data Encryption: Ensuring data is encrypted both at-rest and in-transit to protect sensitive patient information from unauthorized access
• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Adding an extra layer of security by requiring multiple forms of verification before granting access to systems and data
• AI and Machine Learning: Utilizing AI and machine learning to detect and respond to threats in real-time, enabling faster and more accurate threat identification and mitigation
• Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems (IDPS): Deploying IDPS to monitor network traffic for suspicious activity and block potential threats before they cause harm
• Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR): Implementing EDR solutions to continuously monitor and respond to threats on endpoints, such as laptops and mobile devices, ensuring comprehensive protection
• Secure Cloud Solutions: Adopting secure cloud services that offer advanced security features and compliance with healthcare regulations, facilitating safer data storage and access

By integrating these technologies, healthcare organizations can significantly enhance their cybersecurity defenses and protect critical patient data from evolving cyber threats.

Vijay Malik, CTO at EZDERM
To strengthen the cybersecurity of healthcare systems and protect patient data, healthcare organizations should implement SSL/TLS encryption for data in transit and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for user access control. Additionally, adopting the principle of least privilege ensures that users have access only to the data necessary for their roles. Utilizing Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and endpoint malware protection further secures access to the organization’s IT assets.

Jacob Dodd, Vice President, Data Science at Discern Health
AI solutions like predictive models are poised to become commonplace tools in the toolchests of clinicians and advance a more outcomes-based and equitable healthcare future, particularly in the area of preventative care. Protecting the privacy and security of the patient data necessary to build these models presents a sensitive challenge.

One solution to securely harnessing the data potential for priming these models is through a federated learning approach and containerization. Federated learning allows models to be trained across multiple decentralized devices or servers, without the need to transfer sensitive patient data from its original, secure, and private origin. Containerization encapsulates software applications and their dependencies in isolation, which insulates data from potential leaks and breaches. Together, these technologies drive the development of sophisticated, privacy-preserving predictive healthcare AI models.

Jerry Mancini, Senior Director, Office of the CTO at NETSCOUT
To improve their security posture, healthcare organizations should consider implementing solutions such as: Network Detection and Response (NDR), encryption methods to secure sensitive data, and advanced Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) protection technologies, among others. This complete approach to security can set up healthcare organizations for success against evolving network threats. With pervasive network visibility at the source of packet capture thanks to NDR, healthcare IT teams can use this network context to adequately verify and remove anomalies in network traffic before they become systemic issues.

In total, understanding these tools helps healthcare organizations see the big-picture perspective of active breaches and how to make split-second decisions to detect and investigate suspicious activities in real time to prevent infections from spreading, stop future attacks, and isolate compromised assets. These technologies also reduce the burden on the stretched security resources in healthcare organizations, freeing up IT personnel to focus on other important tasks in their organizations.

Pratik Maroo, Head of Healthcare and Life Sciences at Zensar
Healthcare organizations need to find external vulnerabilities and improve their security features with a multifactor authentication process, adequate firewalls, and so on. SSL certificates should be renewed regularly before expiry. SPF and DMARC records will protect against email spoofing, phishing, and other cyber-attacks. It is suggested that IT and security tasks be automated to reduce threat risks.  To understand and gauge the resilience of the IT systems, it is suggested to do penetration testing and update existing tools. Regular cadence and governance of cybersecurity management are required apart from the adoption of technologies for an organization to be resilient against cyber-attacks.

John Chenoweth, Chief Product Security Officer at Elekta
Healthcare organizations must prioritize technology selection and move beyond merely checking compliance boxes to achieve true security. Starting with effective multi-factor authentication (MFA) for identity verification is crucial. Regular update cycles, network traffic analysis, automated threat detection, and integrating physical with logical security measures are also essential. Moving to a managed cloud-based system removes the burden from local staff and ensures regular updates occur, thus strengthening an organization’s security posture. Additionally, participation in industry organizations helps us stay informed and proactive against emerging threats.

Yuval Wollman, Chief Cyber Officer at UST
Among the technologies and defense mechanisms healthcare organizations should implement to bolster their security posture is multi-factor authentication (MFA), which is crucial for preventing unauthorized access; as the Change Healthcare attack illustrated, systems lacking MFA were open to significant vulnerabilities. Advanced threat detection and response tools are essential for real-time monitoring and quick response to potential threats, including up-to-date detection rules, threat intelligence, and preventative threat hunting in internal systems. Additionally, encryption and data loss prevention (DLP) strategies should be in place to protect sensitive patient information from unauthorized access and exfiltration and play an essential role in meeting regulatory standards.

Shyam Rajagopalan, Co-Founder and CTO at Infinitus Systems
Healthcare organizations need to implement several key technologies to enhance their security posture, including encryption for all patient data in transit and at rest, and multi-factor authentication (MFA) to add an extra layer of security. Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems are essential for real-time analysis of security alerts, while Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions provide visibility and protection against malware and ransomware. Additionally deploying intrusion detection systems, next-generation firewalls, and network segmentation such as VPCs can keep your network and infrastructure safe from malware. Lastly, application level rate limiting can serve as a last line of defense from both malware and unexpected usage patterns.

Yigal Rozenberg, SVP Technology at Protegrity
Healthcare organizations should prioritize implementing several key technologies to enhance their security posture. Top technologies include: next-generation firewalls (NGFW) for advanced threat protection, security information and event management (SIEM) systems for real-time monitoring, and identity and access management (IAM) solutions for managing user access. Data loss prevention (DLP) tools, endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions, and network access control (NAC) systems are crucial for data security and threat response. Cloud access security brokers (CASBs), privileged access management (PAM) solutions, and vulnerability management systems help secure cloud services, privileged accounts, and network vulnerabilities. Secure email gateways, mobile device management (MDM), and network segmentation tools protect communication and device security. Additionally, secure web gateways, tokenization and encryption technologies, security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) platforms, AI and machine learning-based security tools, IoT security platforms, and robust backup and disaster recovery solutions are essential for comprehensive cybersecurity in healthcare.

What great solutions! Huge thank you to Zach Evans, Chief Technology Officer at Xsolis, Cecil Pineda, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer at R1, William Ogle, Senior Director of Governance, Risk, and Compliance at Nordic Consulting, Vijay Malik, CTO at EZDERM, Jacob Dodd, Vice President, Data Science at Discern Health, Jerry Mancini, Senior Director, Office of the CTO at NETSCOUT, Pratik Maroo, Head of Healthcare and Life Sciences at Zensar, John Chenoweth, Chief Product Security Officer at Elekta, Yuval Wollman, Chief Cyber Officer at UST, Shyam Rajagopalan, Co-Founder and CTO at Infinitus Systems, and Yigal Rozenberg, SVP Technology at Protegrity for taking the time out of your day to submit a quote! And thank you to all of you for taking the time out of your day to read this article! We could not do this without all of your support.

What do you think are the top technologies that healthcare organizations need to implement to improve their security posture? Let us know either in the comments down below or over on social media. We’d love to hear from all of you!

At this point, it is very well understood that cybersecurity is not only a need for your organization, but that your security measures need to be top of the line. With how sophisticated and frequent cyber threats and attacks have gotten, there is not a single area of your organization that you can try to cut corners on to save some revenue – as those cut corners will be found and exploited, costing your organization way more than what you tried to save.

Now that adopting top technologies is a universally understood truth in the world of healthcare, only one question remains – What are the top technologies that healthcare organizations need to implement to improve their security posture? We reached out to our brilliant Healthcare IT Today Community for their answers to this question. The following is what they had to share.

Zach Evans, Chief Technology Officer at Xsolis
Implementing zero-trust architectures is no longer optional — it’s imperative. As cyber threats continue to evolve, organizations must transition from a model of implicit trust to one of continuous verification. Zero trust tools and technologies are the backbone of a resilient security posture, enabling us to safeguard our assets, data, and operations within an increasingly complex digital landscape. This approach isn’t just about countering today’s threats — it’s about constructing a security framework robust and adaptable enough to withstand the unknown challenges of tomorrow.

Cecil Pineda, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer at R1
There are several key areas healthcare organizations must focus on to protect their business and member data. In order to comprehensively protect data, identifies, applications, networks, and web connectivity, a cohesive technology stack is required. I would encourage organizations to begin with data protection tools like encryption, access control, data visibility (data security posture management), and an effective DLP program. For endpoints, implement effective EDR and layer this with complementary tools. Ensure all technologies interoperate seamlessly to maximize benefits and minimize noise, enabling the security team to focus on genuine alerts.

William Ogle, Senior Director of Governance, Risk, and Compliance at Nordic Consulting
To improve their security posture, healthcare organizations should focus on implementing the following top technologies:

• Advanced-Data Encryption: Ensuring data is encrypted both at-rest and in-transit to protect sensitive patient information from unauthorized access
• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Adding an extra layer of security by requiring multiple forms of verification before granting access to systems and data
• AI and Machine Learning: Utilizing AI and machine learning to detect and respond to threats in real-time, enabling faster and more accurate threat identification and mitigation
• Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems (IDPS): Deploying IDPS to monitor network traffic for suspicious activity and block potential threats before they cause harm
• Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR): Implementing EDR solutions to continuously monitor and respond to threats on endpoints, such as laptops and mobile devices, ensuring comprehensive protection
• Secure Cloud Solutions: Adopting secure cloud services that offer advanced security features and compliance with healthcare regulations, facilitating safer data storage and access

By integrating these technologies, healthcare organizations can significantly enhance their cybersecurity defenses and protect critical patient data from evolving cyber threats.

Vijay Malik, CTO at EZDERM
To strengthen the cybersecurity of healthcare systems and protect patient data, healthcare organizations should implement SSL/TLS encryption for data in transit and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for user access control. Additionally, adopting the principle of least privilege ensures that users have access only to the data necessary for their roles. Utilizing Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and endpoint malware protection further secures access to the organization’s IT assets.

Jacob Dodd, Vice President, Data Science at Discern Health
AI solutions like predictive models are poised to become commonplace tools in the toolchests of clinicians and advance a more outcomes-based and equitable healthcare future, particularly in the area of preventative care. Protecting the privacy and security of the patient data necessary to build these models presents a sensitive challenge.

One solution to securely harnessing the data potential for priming these models is through a federated learning approach and containerization. Federated learning allows models to be trained across multiple decentralized devices or servers, without the need to transfer sensitive patient data from its original, secure, and private origin. Containerization encapsulates software applications and their dependencies in isolation, which insulates data from potential leaks and breaches. Together, these technologies drive the development of sophisticated, privacy-preserving predictive healthcare AI models.

Jerry Mancini, Senior Director, Office of the CTO at NETSCOUT
To improve their security posture, healthcare organizations should consider implementing solutions such as: Network Detection and Response (NDR), encryption methods to secure sensitive data, and advanced Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) protection technologies, among others. This complete approach to security can set up healthcare organizations for success against evolving network threats. With pervasive network visibility at the source of packet capture thanks to NDR, healthcare IT teams can use this network context to adequately verify and remove anomalies in network traffic before they become systemic issues.

In total, understanding these tools helps healthcare organizations see the big-picture perspective of active breaches and how to make split-second decisions to detect and investigate suspicious activities in real time to prevent infections from spreading, stop future attacks, and isolate compromised assets. These technologies also reduce the burden on the stretched security resources in healthcare organizations, freeing up IT personnel to focus on other important tasks in their organizations.

Pratik Maroo, Head of Healthcare and Life Sciences at Zensar
Healthcare organizations need to find external vulnerabilities and improve their security features with a multifactor authentication process, adequate firewalls, and so on. SSL certificates should be renewed regularly before expiry. SPF and DMARC records will protect against email spoofing, phishing, and other cyber-attacks. It is suggested that IT and security tasks be automated to reduce threat risks.  To understand and gauge the resilience of the IT systems, it is suggested to do penetration testing and update existing tools. Regular cadence and governance of cybersecurity management are required apart from the adoption of technologies for an organization to be resilient against cyber-attacks.

John Chenoweth, Chief Product Security Officer at Elekta
Healthcare organizations must prioritize technology selection and move beyond merely checking compliance boxes to achieve true security. Starting with effective multi-factor authentication (MFA) for identity verification is crucial. Regular update cycles, network traffic analysis, automated threat detection, and integrating physical with logical security measures are also essential. Moving to a managed cloud-based system removes the burden from local staff and ensures regular updates occur, thus strengthening an organization’s security posture. Additionally, participation in industry organizations helps us stay informed and proactive against emerging threats.

Yuval Wollman, Chief Cyber Officer at UST
Among the technologies and defense mechanisms healthcare organizations should implement to bolster their security posture is multi-factor authentication (MFA), which is crucial for preventing unauthorized access; as the Change Healthcare attack illustrated, systems lacking MFA were open to significant vulnerabilities. Advanced threat detection and response tools are essential for real-time monitoring and quick response to potential threats, including up-to-date detection rules, threat intelligence, and preventative threat hunting in internal systems. Additionally, encryption and data loss prevention (DLP) strategies should be in place to protect sensitive patient information from unauthorized access and exfiltration and play an essential role in meeting regulatory standards.

Shyam Rajagopalan, Co-Founder and CTO at Infinitus Systems
Healthcare organizations need to implement several key technologies to enhance their security posture, including encryption for all patient data in transit and at rest, and multi-factor authentication (MFA) to add an extra layer of security. Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems are essential for real-time analysis of security alerts, while Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions provide visibility and protection against malware and ransomware. Additionally deploying intrusion detection systems, next-generation firewalls, and network segmentation such as VPCs can keep your network and infrastructure safe from malware. Lastly, application level rate limiting can serve as a last line of defense from both malware and unexpected usage patterns.

Yigal Rozenberg, SVP Technology at Protegrity
Healthcare organizations should prioritize implementing several key technologies to enhance their security posture. Top technologies include: next-generation firewalls (NGFW) for advanced threat protection, security information and event management (SIEM) systems for real-time monitoring, and identity and access management (IAM) solutions for managing user access. Data loss prevention (DLP) tools, endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions, and network access control (NAC) systems are crucial for data security and threat response. Cloud access security brokers (CASBs), privileged access management (PAM) solutions, and vulnerability management systems help secure cloud services, privileged accounts, and network vulnerabilities. Secure email gateways, mobile device management (MDM), and network segmentation tools protect communication and device security. Additionally, secure web gateways, tokenization and encryption technologies, security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) platforms, AI and machine learning-based security tools, IoT security platforms, and robust backup and disaster recovery solutions are essential for comprehensive cybersecurity in healthcare.

What great solutions! Huge thank you to Zach Evans, Chief Technology Officer at Xsolis, Cecil Pineda, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer at R1, William Ogle, Senior Director of Governance, Risk, and Compliance at Nordic Consulting, Vijay Malik, CTO at EZDERM, Jacob Dodd, Vice President, Data Science at Discern Health, Jerry Mancini, Senior Director, Office of the CTO at NETSCOUT, Pratik Maroo, Head of Healthcare and Life Sciences at Zensar, John Chenoweth, Chief Product Security Officer at Elekta, Yuval Wollman, Chief Cyber Officer at UST, Shyam Rajagopalan, Co-Founder and CTO at Infinitus Systems, and Yigal Rozenberg, SVP Technology at Protegrity for taking the time out of your day to submit a quote! And thank you to all of you for taking the time out of your day to read this article! We could not do this without all of your support.

What do you think are the top technologies that healthcare organizations need to implement to improve their security posture? Let us know either in the comments down below or over on social media. We’d love to hear from all of you!