Cloud Security Concerns Persist in Healthcare Field: Data Is More Secure With Cloud Hosting Provider

When the Ponemon Institute’s fourth annual Benchmark Study on Patient Privacy & Data Security was released earlier this month, it stated that use of cloud services is the second-highest security risk concern for healthcare organizations.

When the Ponemon Institute’s fourth annual Benchmark Study on Patient Privacy & Data Security was released earlier this month, it stated that use of cloud services is the second-highest security risk concern for healthcare organizations.

Employee negligence was the runaway winner in that category, mentioned by 75 percent of leaders interviewed for the study. Cloud services (41 percent) was bunched in a tight race for second-place with mobile device insecurity (40 percent) and cyber attackers (39 percent).

According to the report:

“… healthcare organizations view the use of public cloud services as a serious threat. In fact, only one-third are very confident or confident that information in a public cloud environment is secure. Despite the risk, 40 percent of organizations say they use the cloud heavily, an increase from 32 percent last year. The applications or services most used are backup and storage, file-sharing applications, business applications and document sharing and collaboration.”

Online Tech, of course, has built its reputation on protecting data and mission critical applications to ensure they are always available, secure, and comply with government and industry regulations. We have independent HIPAA, PCI, SOC 2 and Safe Harbor audits to back those claims.

When you spend $1 million to build the new architecture of your next-generation encrypted, enterprise-class cloud infrastructure, you differentiate yourself with a focus on security, compliance and mission critical applications.

Recently, Online Tech Senior Product Architect Steve Aiello dispelled the myth that data is less secure in a well-run data center or in a cloud environment. “I would say that is not only 100% false, but probably the opposite of the truth,” he said. In a video series entry, he counters that data is actually more secure with a cloud hosting provider.

He asks: Does your office have the appropriate level of physical security in place, including …

• Biometric authentication – key fobs, pins and fingerprint readers for access to your servers
• Solid, reinforced concrete walls
• Heat and fire suppression sensors
• Additional locks on cabinets
• Visitor logs 

He asks: Does your limited technical staff have the ability to …

• Ensure your patches are up-to-date
• Expertise to run enterprise antivirus, anti-malware, file integrity monitoring solution with IDS/IPS solution
• Fully redundant, high availability firewall maintenance
• Expertise to implement encryption in storage arrays
• Know-how to harden operating systems
• Ability to alert in case of anomalies
• Set up web application firewalls
• Set up and configure highly mobile VPNs in a cost-effective manner

Comparing the services of cloud service providers to the man-hours and hardware required for an in-house solution, a cloud hosting provider offers more value and expertise at lower costs.