Life Science Industry as a Target

As critical research, patient and business data have matured into digital format, so have regulatory compliance standards that govern their security and access – establishing a “best-effort” responsibility for businesses that manage sensitive data. A breach may result in significant fines, in addition to potential negative exposure and damage to your business’ reputation.

Therefore, Cybersecurity breaches are now more prevalent than ever. Those looking to compromise your systems understand the potential impact a breach could have to your business, and look to leverage that into significant ransom payments.

Impact to the Life Science Industry 

Biopharmaceutical and Healthcare industries have become a prime target for such attacks, as we’ve seen recently with breaches at Nuance, Merck, Heritage Valley Health System, etc.

These attacks infiltrate entire network infrastructures and wreak havoc by spreading quickly and shutting down everything that it touches, potentially causing:

• Critical Business System Downtime
• Compromised access to the business’ sensitive and regulated data
• Significant negative impact to business operations and its productivity
• Loss of confidence from the public and business stakeholders

Mitigate Cybersecurity risk to your business

Typically, any Cybersecurity initiative is a blend of People, Process and Technology. Even if a business has sophisticated security systems and standards in these areas, the proactive nature of hackers’ capabilities and their technology will always place them one step ahead.

Therefore the most important aspect of your Cybersecurity strategy may be how your business would react to a systems breach.

A comprehensive Cybersecurity plan would include best-practice preventative and recovery measures in all areas of IT People, Process and Technology; such as:

• Strong IT Leadership to set the cyber security Vision and Strategy
• Effective Enterprise IT Architecture
• Robust Disaster Recovery Capabilities
• End-user training and knowledge

The Life Science industry is currently a prime target for Cybersecurity attacks. The right IT leadership can not only greatly reduce the likelihood of a successful attack on your business, but will also have the right strategy to mitigate the impact if an incident occurs.

Do you have an IT leader and/or partner who can provide that peace of mind?