The use of online services as a result of the coronavirus has increased exponentially compared to this time last year. However, the risk of cyber-attacks has also increased along with it.
This has particularly been the case within the healthcare industry as patients take their appointments online via video/phone calls, also known as telehealth. This service has become massively popular in the last few months. According to the U.S. Department of Health, the number of telehealth visitors soared by 350-fold compared to pre-COVID times. Yet, in the recent 2020 healthcare report, researchers looked at 148 frequently used telehealth providers and found that there has been an exponential rise in cyber attacks, including a 117% increase in IP reputation security alerts.
Such attacks on this kind of software is not only detrimental to the privacy of patients but also for the healthcare providers, for whom it is necessary to use this softweare to manage and control their services whilst keeping everyone safe and healthy.
