It is incredible how IoT has added life to the non-living things, isn’t it? With the power of sensors, devices around us can collect and share real-time data on a 24*7 basis. With the received data, businesses can gain actionable and decisive insights on ways to improve their services and products. The healthcare industry that is always struggling to provide improved services to patients is leveraging IoT to gather real-time patient data. With the help of health-monitoring devices, doctors are now able to monitor their patients from anywhere in the world. Doctors can obtain real-time data on the heart rate, blood pressure level, and blood oxygen levels of their patients, enabling doctors to provide ‘proactive’ healthcare solutions. Additionally, using ‘electronic health record’ brings in the immense opportunity for doctors to access patient data easily.

True that IoT is adding a new dimension in modifying the healthcare services, but have you ever thought about the security of your data? As we already know, where there is data, there are hackers too. Fixing IoT security risks is mandatory, which goes without saying. The best solution to such security issues is to build an effective IoT strategy, which allows IoT to offer its benefits without making us anxious about data security. Healthcare CIOs must now set their strongest foot forward and put an end to IoT security issues.

Understanding the security risks

It feels like the healthcare industry has become the prime target for hackers. In the year 2016, 27 million patient records were affected due to data breach. Not a small number at all, right? Even with the use of high-level security-enabled devices, robust infrastructure, and highly robust software, the healthcare industry could not completely overcome the problem of data breach.

Changing role of CIOs in fixing IoT security risks

The reports on data breaches have completely shaken the healthcare CIOs. To add to their anxietys, is another survey out there. Gartner predicts that “by 2020, more than 25% healthcare attacks will involve IoT.” The growing security risks have compelled CIOs to provide the necessary solution or guidelines for securing IoT data. Hackers are eagerly waiting to steal our data. With the emergence of modern technologies, hackers have improved their modus operandi as well. Hence, CIOs should have in-depth knowledge of the IoT technology. After analyzing the high-risk areas, CIOs can apply their technical expertise to a security strategy, which will drive the data security mitigation approach in their organization.

Revealing the ‘formula’ for securing IoT data

Now, we will discuss a few steps that will help healthcare CIOs to solve the IoT security issues efficiently:

• CIOs should ensure that the infrastructure is not vulnerable to attacks by embedding hardware and software that can provide security from the various threats and attacks
• It is essential that security leaders regularly track, identify, and find the risks associated with IoT connected devices
• By using cloud-based management security solutions, CIOs should determine the scale required for building the right security plan
• CIOs should address the security risks by using a mixture of approaches, ranging from physical to mobile to cloud, augmenting the traditional security approach

Preparing a data security strategy by including the steps mentioned above, will create a strong wall of security, which will fight against any cyber threats assocaited with IoT.