Did you know that over 70% of automated cybersecurity tests in healthcare miss vulnerabilities that hackers exploit every day? If you’re an IT company with healthcare clients, your patients’ data, reputation, and regulatory compliance are on the line. Let’s dive deep into why a human touch in pen testing is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity.
If you’re an IT company with healthcare clients considering offering white-labeled pen testing, this post is for you. Cyberattacks on notable healthcare institutions have been increasingly common. Remember the malware incident at Universal Health Services? It wreaked havoc, halting patient care at over 250 U.S. facilities and causing an estimated $67 million in losses before insurance recoveries. Similarly, Magellan Health faced not only phishing exploits but also ransomware attacks, locking out essential medical data.
Despite deploying advanced vulnerability scans, these institutions suffered significant breaches. Why? Traditional automated scans can spot standard vulnerabilities but often miss the sophisticated threats that modern attackers use. This is where manual pen testing proves invaluable. By mimicking advanced attack patterns, manual pen testing captures a broader range of vulnerabilities, from zero-day exploits to unpatched systems. For IT companies with healthcare clients, this means stronger defense mechanisms in an increasingly perilous digital environment.
The Basics of Cybersecurity in Healthcare
Why is cybersecurity so crucial in today’s healthcare landscape? Healthcare organizations hold extensive information on individuals, comparable to credit agencies, minus the credit history. Hackers can exploit this data for financial gain, especially from high-profile individuals.
Many hospitals and clinics still rely on outdated frameworks and devices, some of which may no longer receive software support. To save money, these facilities might restrict these devices to the internal network only. However, if a server or firewall is breached, the entire internal network is at risk. This is why penetration testing is essential—to ensure firewalls are robust and to understand how well the rest of the system is secured if an initial breach occurs. Hackers can pivot and exploit different parts of the network, which is why a thorough penetration test is necessary.
The Limitations of Automation in Cybersecurity
Automated cybersecurity tools have significant limitations. For instance, if older legacy systems are in use, a computerized script might not even recognize these systems, let alone scan them for vulnerabilities. Hackers, on the other hand, can identify and exploit these older systems, which may have reached end-of-life status with no further security support from the vendor.
Benefits of Outsourcing Manual Pen Testing to Experts (like MainNerve)
Manual pen tests uncover unique vulnerabilities that automated tools often miss, such as default credentials on firewalls or servers. This human approach ensures the robustness of existing security infrastructures. MainNerve’s real-world testing scenarios have enhanced the security awareness of healthcare staff, revealing that vulnerabilities often lie in third-party applications or during the transfer of PHI to another system.
Our manual pen testing methods help healthcare MSPs comply with regulatory standards like HIPAA. Feedback from our healthcare clients indicates that our services instill confidence in their stakeholders.
MainNerve goes above and beyond to ensure more robust networks by recommending avoiding flat network topologies, where all devices are accessible to each other. While we can’t provide every service a client might need, we can assist in finding partners who can.
Why Partner with MainNerve
IT companies with healthcare clients should choose MainNerve for manual pen testing because of our dedication to integrity and commitment to meeting regulatory and compliance goals.
What makes MainNerve different is our flexibility in testing, competitive pricing, experienced staff, and streamlined processes. We assign a dedicated Delivery Manager and Tester to each project, ensuring clear communication and high-quality service.
Conclusion
The biggest takeaway for IT companies with healthcare clients is the immense value of manual pen testing in safeguarding against sophisticated cyber threats. Manual testing offers a depth and thoroughness that automated tools cannot match. For MSPs working with medium to large healthcare clients, MainNerve provides the expertise and dedication needed to protect sensitive patient data and maintain compliance with industry standards.
If you’re considering enhancing your cybersecurity with MainNerve’s services, the first step is to contact us. We pride ourselves on responding promptly to emails and phone calls—no phone trees here.
