October is Cyber Security Awareness month and we’re asking are you cyber wise?
To mark the occasion, the Guild is urging pharmacists to consider what would happen if their information systems came under attack.
What happens to patients’ personal and sensitive health information in the event of a cyber-attack?
What about the potential damage to a pharmacy’s reputation?
In addition to compromising patients’ personal details, the pharmacy’s access to critical business systems would be affected, and its capacity to remain open would be compromised.
Thankfully there are steps pharmacists can take to ensure their practice and their patients’ data is cyber secure.
If you take the following steps, you will significantly maximise your cyber security:
- Create strong passwords by making them long, complex, and unique. Never re-use passwords, as this means that one breached account can lead to multiple breaches.
- If you follow step 1, remembering passwords can be difficult, a password manager will add that extra layer of protection while allowing you to easily manage hundreds of unique passwords at once.
- Multi-factor authentication is basically a password for your password. If your password has been breached, multi-factor authentication prevents immediate access to your account.
- Keeping your software updated is a simple way to keep security holes patched that can otherwise be used by hackers.
- Know how to recognise phishing attempts before it’s too late. Always take a moment to think if something doesn’t seem quite right, and avoid clicking on suspicious links, downloading attachments, or providing personal information.
