Over 60% of data breaches can be traced to weak credentials. Employees reuse passwords or create ones that are easy to remember. Many employees add a number to their passwords and increment them each time they are forced to make a password change. These practices make it easy for hackers to gain access to a network.

As a small- to medium-sized business (SMB) owner, keeping your dental clinic’s valuable data safe should be a priority. Cybercriminals often target SMBs and healthcare organizations because compared to larger corporations, these entities often lack the technology and manpower to run an efficient cybersecurity system, making them easier to infiltrate.

Cybercriminals have many opportunities to intercept confidential data. But if your data is encrypted, it’s much more difficult for your data to be compromised – should a cybercriminal succeed in getting their hands on it.

As with any other healthcare provider, dental practices must comply with HIPAA and HITECH legislation – requiring that all communications be encrypted.

Most practice owners and office managers are working to improve their cybersecurity posture to prevent the same attacks and breaches that have made headlines in the past several years. They are updating their firewalls, looking into antivirus and antimalware tools, and performing penetration tests to uncover any weakness in their practice network.

In a digitally evolving world, it’s imperative that you have a cybersecurity plan in place. No matter what the size or specialty of your dental practice is, digital security is a must. Having a regularly scheduled cybersecurity audit and assessment for your practice is important.

Time flies by so fast, and soon, it’ll be a new year yet again. Congratulate yourself on being able to keep your practice going despite so many looming external threats like ransomware and phishers! However, you must not rest on your laurels because cybercriminals sure won’t. Here are New Year’s resolutions your organization must make to continue enjoying cybersecurity in 2022.
Implement multifactor authentication
Passwords are becoming easier to crack by the day.

Ransomware continues to be the most dangerous type of malware, with one in five businesses in the United States falling victim to an attack. For those who don’t know, ransomware is designed to block one’s access to a computer system until a specific sum of money is paid.

Phishing continues to be one of the most effective methods of cyberattack plaguing many dental practices today. Phishing refers to a technique that involves an outside entity gaining access to private networks or data with the assistance of someone with legitimate access to them, obtained through deception and social manipulation.

Data breaches pose grave threats to dental practices because they manage sensitive information relating to patients and their medical histories. If cybercriminals get a hold of this data, they can use it to commit fraud like forging credentials and making unauthorized transactions.

Despite an ever-changing digital world, email has held strong as a popular form of communication for the dental community. Email targeting has allowed cybercriminals to excel at their craft and develop new and creative ways to scam you out of personal and potentially sensitive information.