The 5 Best Ways to Protect Your Healthcare Company from Cyberattacks

When Black Basta ransomware hit Ascension Healthcare Network — a nonprofit with over 140 hospitals across 19 states and 177,000 employees — it forced patient diversions, rescheduled appointments, and a revert to manual systems. The attack was a stark reminder: healthcare organizations are major targets, and the stakes couldn't be higher.

Whether it's disrupted phone systems, compromised medications, or leaked patient data, your organization can't afford to be caught off guard. Here are the 5 best practices to protect your healthcare company before an attack ever happens.

1. Implement Strong Password Policies

Encourage employees to create complex passwords using a combination of upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and special characters. Consider using a password manager like LastPass to generate and store strong, unique passwords securely.

What You Can Do: Require password changes every 60–90 days and enable two-factor authentication (2FA). For even stronger protection, use a multi-factor authentication app like Microsoft Authenticator to generate one-time login codes.

2. Regularly Update Software and Systems

Outdated software contains vulnerabilities that cybercriminals actively exploit. Regular updates and patches close these security gaps while also improving system performance and reducing unnecessary downtime.

What You Can Do: Set up automatic updates for operating systems and applications, and assign someone to monitor them. Don't forget to update medical devices and any equipment connected to your network. If managing updates feels overwhelming, consider partnering with an MSP like JMARK to handle your tech needs so you can focus on patient care.

3. Conduct Employee Training and Awareness Programs

Employees are often the first line of defense against cyber threats. Some of the largest data breaches in history — like the Anthem breach affecting 78.8 million records — began with a single phishing email.

What You Can Do: Hold regular training sessions on identifying phishing emails, proper data handling, and reporting suspicious activity. Use simulated phishing attacks to test and strengthen your team's response. The more they know, the more confident they'll be in spotting and avoiding threats.

4. Use Encryption for Sensitive Data

Encryption converts data into a code that cannot be read without a decryption key — even if it's intercepted. It's one of the most effective ways to protect patient records, billing information, and internal communications.

What You Can Do: Encrypt all sensitive data both in transit and at rest. Use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption for emails and websites to ensure that data transmitted between servers and browsers remains private and secure.

5. Develop and Regularly Test an Incident Response Plan

An incident response plan outlines how to detect, respond to, and recover from a cyberattack. Yet according to CompTIA, only 37% of companies include one as part of their cybersecurity strategy.

What You Can Do: Create a detailed, customized incident response plan that includes steps for containment, eradication, and recovery — tailored specifically to your organization's structure. Conduct regular drills and update the plan based on lessons learned. This will help reduce downtime, protect your reputation, ensure compliance, and minimize financial losses.

Summary

To protect your healthcare organization, follow these 5 best practices:

• Require frequent password changes and multi-factor authentication
• Automatically update operating systems, apps, medical devices, and networked equipment
• Train your team to identify and report phishing attacks using simulated incidents
• Encrypt all sensitive data including patient records, billing information, and device communications
• Create and regularly test an incident response plan tailored to your organization's needs

The Future of Cybersecurity

Cyberattacks are growing more frequent and more sophisticated — but you can fight back. Prioritizing a strong security posture protects your finances, your public trust, and most importantly, your patients.

Ready to take action? Grab our cybersecurity checklist for a detailed breakdown of how to keep your patients safe. Or call 844-44-JMARK to speak with one of our IT and security experts for a personalized plan.

Schedule a Network Evaluation to see how we can work together.