Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

During the pandemic, healthcare and education providers scrambled to adapt to providing services remotely, using tools like Slack, Google Drive, and Zoom to continue connecting with patients and students. McKinsey tracked a spike in the use of telehealth solutions in April 2020 that was 78 times higher than in February 2020. And, by some estimates, more than 1.2 billion children worldwide were impacted by school closures due to the pandemic — some of whom were able to learn remotely.

In today’s world with cyber attacks hitting the headlines daily, cybersecurity is at the forefront of many business owners’ minds, but implementing the right solutions and knowing what to do to reduce your risk is a big challenge for decision makers in these organizations. The task is even harder for small- to medium-sized businesses (SMB) that tend to lack extensive budgets and resources needed for implementing the most effective and high-brow cybersecurity solutions on the market.

Currently, only four companies are officially approved by the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Accreditation Body (CMMC-AB) as authorized C3PAOs, and just under 200 organizations are currently listed as C3PAO Candidates pending a CMMC Maturity Level 3 Assessment.

Data breaches have reached a fever pitch over the last few years. The rapid frequency of successful attacks coupled with the rising costs to businesses has raised attention at the highest levels of global governments. In the past, breaches were relatively “localized,” that is, they affected the targeted company only. However, the newer attacks have disrupted entire supply chains.

Security compliance management is the process of monitoring and assessing systems, devices, and networks to ensure they comply with regulatory requirements, as well as industry and local cybersecurity standards. Staying on top of compliance isn’t always easy, especially for highly regulated industries and sectors. Regulations and standards change often, as do threats and vulnerabilities. Organizations often have to respond quickly to remain in compliance.

Defense contractors across the U.S. are moving to update their cybersecurity programs to meet or exceed Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) requirements launched in 2020 by the Department of Defense (DoD) to provide greater protection of Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). The effort required for CMMC Level 3 Certification will be significant for many of the small to midsized firms who have limited information technology and cybersecurity personnel and resources.

The Digital Operations Resilience Act (DORA) is the European Union’s attempt to streamline the third-party risk management process across financial institutions. A draft of DORA was published by the European Commission on 24 September 2020. Without this act, there isn't an objective Information and Communication Technology (ICT) risk management standard in Europe.

HIPAA compliance law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act in long form, is one of the compliance standards the public and private healthcare companies need to address for building and maintaining public trust in telemedicine. During the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine has been the solution to withstand the excess influx to hospitals and health centers, avoiding unnecessary exposure of patients.

For healthcare organizations, cybersecurity isn’t just about staying safe and protected from evolving cyber threats—it’s also about staying compliant. The most well-known healthcare regulation of them all is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which recently celebrated 25 years on the books.