Computers in the Workplace.. Healthcare

 I have chosen to discuss the importance of computer literacy in the healthcare industry. AS technology advances, the many industries in our lives will adopt the changes to technology. Years ago healthcare records may have been kept in file cabinets, eventually they were probably migrated to a simple file system. Nowadays most hospitals are probably using a cloud environment for computing. It is the cheapest most efficient way to host large networks and have reliable data. Doctors and nurses update charts online, view test results, and view records all on the computers. It is important that these computer systems have the regulatory controls in place to be HIPPA compliant. It is extremely important for every user to know how to protect PII and HIPPA information. Because of these compliance rules, the security of the system might be more strict than that of a normal commercial operation. Another reason why every user must be computer literate and have a cybersecurity mindset is that threat actors will target hospitals with ransomware. The ransomware attacks can cost millions of dollars to recover from and also put lives at risk. Imagine you are on a newly advanced monitoring system that keeps you alive but the system that keeps the data of that tool has been compromised. This can lead to not knowing how much medicine to give a patient or worse. In 2019 a ransomware attack in Alabama caused disruptions that led to a newborn's death (zacharakos 2019). This is a clear example of how a cyber attack on a healthcare institution can cause problems. It shows that now only do workers need to focus on confidentiality of data but also awareness of cyber threats. 

Reference:

Zacharakos, A. (2023, May 3). Studies show ransomware has already caused patient deaths: TechTarget. Security. https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/feature/Studies-show-ransomware-has-already-caused-patient-deaths#:~:text=There%20have%20already%20been%20notable,lawsuit%20filed%20against%20the%20hospital.