In November 2019, a cyberattack against 110 nursing homes highlighted the industry’s cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Hackers encrypted all data and demanded a $14 million ransom to decrypt the data. Just last month, Change Healthcare (a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group) was a victim of a cyber-attack affecting the entire health care system. More than 75% of healthcare organizations have experienced a significant cybersecurity incident. Long-term care organizations remain one of the most vulnerable subsectors of healthcare due to their small size, lack of resources and cybersecurity infrastructure. Additionally, the focus on older adult care adds to the cybersecurity risk as older adults are prime targets for online scams and frauds. Even on a personal device, cyberattacks can migrate into a company network without proper security in place. Brandon Smith, Cybersecurity Intelligence Analyst from the Michigan State Police Cyber Command Center, will join us to share insights on the top threats and trends for cybersecurity for long-term care organizations. Brandon will also highlight why LTC providers need to take cybersecurity seriously.

Nurse Learner Outcome: At the conclusion of this session, participants will self-report a knowledge gain of mitigation strategies to protect LTC providers from cyberattacks on the post session evaluation.

Learner Objectives:

1. Describe the top 3 threats in cybersecurity for long-term care providers in 2024.
2. Examine the top 3 vectors of attack in 2024.
3. Analyze mitigation strategies to protect LTC provider organizations from attack.