Medigate, healthcare's leading clinical device data security and integration platform, today announced it has launched a research collaboration with   CrowdStrike, a leader of cloud-delivered endpoint and workload protection. Titled "Healthcare IoT Security Operations Maturity -- A Rationalized Approach to a New Normal," the paper highlights recent cyberattack trends, including the increase in ransomware, and emphasizes the need for Healthcare Delivery Organizations (HDOs) to harden their security infrastructures via a renewed focus on defense fundamentals.

Cyberattacks surged during the pandemic. Multiple sources cited in the paper indicate that roughly eighty-two percent of health systems experienced some form of IoT cyberattack. Thirty-four percent of the reported attacks were ransomware. Thirty-three percent reported paying the ransom, but only sixty-nine percent of those that paid the ransom reported having their data fully restored. This paper explores the policy debate surrounding ransomware payments in a context that includes emerging cyber-insurance considerations and the fact that no standard for detailing attack restoration costs yet exists.

"Healthcare now understands the reality of the threat and is doing something about it. And that's a good thing. But, when faced with all the advanced options promoting layered defense capabilities, we thought it was time to detail a more simplified approach," said Jonathan Langer, Co-Founder and CEO of Medigate. "HDOs require a unified security approach to defend against evolving threat landscapes."

The report covers various capabilities that health systems should consider in defending their organizations against advanced threats, including the integration benefits of the CrowdStrike Falcon® platform and Medigate platform as well as threat containment and well-scoped insurance coverage.

"As sophisticated threat activity continues to accelerate and the number of medical devices connecting to hospital networks increases, the healthcare industry continues to be a prime target for threat actors," said Drex DeFord, Executive Healthcare Strategist with CrowdStrike. "HDOs must implement a modern, layered-defense strategy that continuously improves visibility, incorporates EDR, and includes containment capabilities so that they can accurately detect, respond and prevent sophisticated attacks."

CrowdStrike and Medigate deliver an integrated solution that provides comprehensive visibility and strengthened protection for all managed and unmanaged devices in HDO environments.  Together, the companies are recharging existing HDO asset management and security infrastructure, creating a strong foundation for a layered defense.

To learn more about Medigate and CrowdStrike and access the research paper, click here: https://discover.medigate.io/medigate_crowdstrike_research