The Vaccine Supply Chain: Why Healthcare Cybersecurity Has Never Been More Important

The Pandemic Has Created New Vulnerabilities for Hackers to Exploit

As vaccine efforts have ramped up across the globe, the world waits with bated breath for the return more normal times. At the same time, cybercriminals smell blood in the water. For them, the vaccine rollout is an exciting opportunity to attack the entire vaccine supply chain, from vulnerable electronic health records to vaccine cold storage facilities. Never before has medical supply chain cybersecurity been so paramount.

What is Being Targeted?

From researchers and syringe manufacturers to care facilities, the entire vaccine supply chain is fair game for cybercriminals.

Patient data is naturally one of the most valuable things still up for grabs. Unfortunately, with patients needing multiple doses of the vaccine, care facilities are sharing patient records across their networks much more often than usual, giving criminals more opportunities to steal unprotected data.

The vaccine cold chain - the network of facilities and cold storage devices that allows the vaccine to be transported across the world at the extremely cold temperatures needed to keep vaccine doses viable - has also become a target for cyber attacks. Nigel Thorpe, technical director at the SecureAge, even explains a nightmarish scenario where criminals could use ransomware to lock vaccines in storage until millions of dollars are transferred to them.

What You Can Do to Protect the Vaccine Supply Chain

So, now that healthcare is entering a new realm of cybersecurity – one that deals with multiple cold chain and distribution partners amidst skyrocketing patient record generation – there are a few recommended best practices to keep in mind. Some of these recommendations are tried and true ones that have been screamed from the rooftops for some time, while others are more tailored to the current times.

Blockchain

Entering into a blockchain ledger with vaccine supply chain partners can help give staff a clearer view of all shared information and even provide more insight into when a cyber-attack occurs. Blockchain will allow all network members to be notified if any changes are made to data shared on that network. All changes need to be approved by everyone who has access, meaning several more opportunities to confer and spot and quash a cyberattack before it reaches crucial data.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

There’s never been a more fitting moment to double down on staff identity authentication. If you’re already using RFID scanners and badges, consider supplementing authentication efforts with a second piece of identity confirming hardware. For instance, adding a biometric scan - like a fingerprint or retinal scan - to your security protocols goes a long way to ensuring criminals cannot access crucial systems.

Single Sign On

Authentication solutions such as RFID and biometric scanners can provide both a security benefit of identity confirmation while also providing the added bonus of streamlining the login process (commonly tied to nurse and physician EHR burnout). Thankfully, healthcare Single Sign On solutions can compound both of these benefits, further improving security while also providing practical efficiency improvements.

SSO solutions such as Imprivata’s double-check credentials on a separate server confirm the identity of those logging in and eliminate the need for repeated logins that can cut down on burnout-fueled cybersecurity slip-ups. These kinds of programs can provide a very potent barrier against criminals looking to steal valuable vaccine supply chain data.

Educate Staff on Recent Vaccine Supply Chain Attacks

The majority of cyber-attacks we’ve seen due to increased targeting of the vaccine cold chain have been phishing scams. More often than not, these scams took the form of emails that pretend to hold important information on vaccine distribution locked away behind a screen that asks healthcare professionals to input their login credentials.

With this in mind, educate staff on what a typical email from your team looks like and consider implementing a steadfast rule stating, “if it asks you to input credentials, delete the email and don’t click anything within it.” Many times, this is common sense, but the staff is more stressed than ever, and vaccine distribution is only going to increase workloads, anxiety, and burnout, and human error will likely increase as a result. It’s during these times that even common sense needs to be reiterated.

Final Thoughts

There is no telling what the future of COVID care and these vaccination programs hold. There is one thing; however, we do know: cyber-attacks will not slow down. For more information on how to incorporate that hardware seamlessly, contact an expert from Cybernet today.