Healthcare organizations should initiate their zero-trust strategies by focusing on identity management.
In the rapidly digitalising healthcare sector, the protection of sensitive patient data has become a top priority. A Zero-Trust Identity Strategy plays a crucial role in this regard, offering a shift from the traditional "trust but verify" model to a "never trust, always verify" approach [1][4]. By treating every user, device, and application as untrusted until continuously authenticated and authorised, Zero-Trust Identity helps healthcare organisations defend against cyber threats, reduce the risk of data breaches, and maintain regulatory compliance [1].
Key aspects of Zero-Trust Identity in healthcare include:
1. **Reduced Attack Surface:** By verifying every access attempt, regardless of location or network, Zero-Trust minimises unauthorised access and lateral movement within networks, which is crucial in defending against ransomware and other intrusions [1]. 2. **Granular Access Control:** Zero-Trust enables organisations to tightly control who can access which resources, for how long, and under what conditions, reducing the risk of internal and external data breaches [2]. 3. **Continuous Authentication:** Access is not only verified at the point of entry but is continuously monitored and re-evaluated, adapting to changes in risk or user behaviour in real time [1][4]. 4. **Regulatory Compliance:** A Zero-Trust approach aligns with strict healthcare regulations by ensuring only authorised personnel handle patient data, supporting both compliance (e.g., HIPAA) and patient trust [3]. 5. **Identity-Centric Security:** Accurate identification and continuous verification of both patients and staff are foundational—ensuring the right data is associated with the right patient and only accessible to the right people [3].
Effective implementation of Zero-Trust Identity in healthcare organisations requires a structured, risk-based approach [1]. Recommended steps for implementation include:
1. **Assemble a Dedicated Team:** Form a cross-functional team with expertise in identity, network, application, device, and data security to plan and execute the zero-trust transition [5]. 2. **Comprehensive Asset Inventory:** Identify and classify all digital assets—data, devices, applications, systems, networks—and define their criticality, location, ownership, and intended access patterns. This inventory helps prioritise security measures and identify existing zero-trust components [5]. 3. **Identity and Access Management (IAM):** Deploy robust IAM solutions that enforce strict, context-aware access policies. These should include multi-factor authentication (MFA), role-based access controls (RBAC), and continuous monitoring of access patterns [2]. 4. **Network Segmentation:** Break down flat, permissive networks into micro-segments, limiting the spread of potential breaches and making lateral movement more difficult for attackers [1]. 5. **Continuous Monitoring and Analytics:** Implement real-time monitoring to detect anomalies, unauthorised access, and suspicious behaviour, enabling rapid response to potential threats [1]. 6. **Staff Training and Culture Change:** Regularly train staff on zero-trust principles and the importance of cybersecurity. Simulate phishing attacks and other scenarios to reinforce vigilance and accountability [3]. 7. **Patient Engagement:** Provide patients with tools to view, control, and revoke access to their data, enhancing transparency and trust [3]. 8. **Vendor and Third-Party Management:** Enforce strict compliance requirements and regular audits for third-party vendors and partners, especially for cloud services and IoT devices [3]. 9. **Ongoing Evaluation and Adaptation:** Continuously assess the effectiveness of zero-trust controls, adapt as threats evolve, and update policies and technologies accordingly [1][5].
In conclusion, a Zero-Trust Identity Strategy is essential for protecting patient data in healthcare, reducing breach risk, and maintaining regulatory compliance [1][3]. Effective implementation requires a combination of technology, policy, training, and ongoing adaptation, with a focus on identity as the cornerstone of security [3][5]. By adopting Zero-Trust, healthcare organisations can better defend against evolving cyber threats and strengthen patient trust in an increasingly digital care environment [1][3].
CDW has experience in performing Zero-Trust assessments and offers advisory services, professional services, products, and managed services to address each component of the Zero-Trust model. In a Zero-Trust environment, every entity is vetted by an integrated policy-as-code engine to ensure that it is known by the network. Lack of identity maturity in healthcare organisations can make them easy targets for cybercriminals. All security solutions should be able to communicate to ensure the entire network is secure in a Zero-Trust Identity Strategy. Zero-Trust can solve the problem of weak identity strategies in healthcare organisations. Many healthcare organisations lack a holistic multifactor authentication strategy, which can be exploited by attackers. A strong identity strategy is where healthcare organisations should start in implementing a Zero-Trust environment. Healthcare organisations should resist setting up Zero-Trust architectures on their own and consider partnerships to handle unique challenges. In a Zero-Trust Identity Strategy, the environment references a vetted identity store to verify a digital entity's identity and current state privileges. In healthcare, there are special challenges to consider, particularly around medical devices and certain workflows that are unique to the delivery of care. One of the leading areas in cyber exploitation is the use of stolen credentials and account privilege escalation. Zero-Trust Identity begins with governance, frameworks, and workflows, including identity registrations, authentication mechanisms, access policies, analytics, and automation and orchestration engines. The three major evaluation components of a Zero-Trust Identity Strategy are: Component Relationship, Workflow Planning, and Access Policies.
References: [1] CDW. (2021). Zero Trust: Redefining Security in Healthcare. Retrieved from https://www.cdw.com/content/cdw/en/resources/insights/research/zero-trust-redefining-security-in-healthcare.html [2] Forrester. (2019). The Forrester Wave™: Identity as a Service for Enterprise, Q3 2019. Retrieved from https://www.forrester.com/report/The+Forrester+Wave+Identity+As+A+Service+For+Enterprise+Q3+2019/-/E-RES141064 [3] HealthITSecurity.com. (2020). Zero Trust Architecture: The Future of Healthcare Security? Retrieved from https://healthitsecurity.com/news/zero-trust-architecture-the-future-of-healthcare-security [4] IBM. (2020). Zero Trust Security: A Practical Guide for Healthcare Organizations. Retrieved from https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/WJDJU7ZJ [5] Gartner. (2020). Gartner Recommends Zero Trust for Healthcare Security. Retrieved from https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2020-06-10-gartner-recommends-zero-trust-for-healthcare-security
Using the provided text as context, here are two sentences that incorporate the given words:
- Leveraging Zero-Trust Identity Strategies in healthcare can help ensure the security of health-and-wellness data by reducing the attack surface and implementing granular access control, thereby strengthening cybersecurity in the rapidly digitalising sector [1][5].
- By adopting a Zero-Trust Identity approach, healthcare organisations can embrace advancements in technology like therapies-and-treatments, as they no longer need to worry about their sensitive data being compromised due to cybersecurity threats [3][4].
