Senior living centers work to create stimulating and healthy environments by providing connectivity and mobile solutions that support communication for staff members. One of the ways senior living center staff members stay connected is through email.
Unfortunately, cybercriminals often target senior living center employees through email, carrying out phishing attacks that put residents’ personal and medical information at risk of being stolen. If a staff member or caregiver clicks on a link in an email that is infected with ransomware, it can escalate into a phishing attack that encrypts and shuts down the center’s electronic healthcare records (EHR) systems.
HIPAA Journal reported that in 2023, Kisco Senior Living, LLC, a company that operates senior living facilities in many states, including Virginia, announced that it had experienced a ransomware attack. The attack affected almost 27,000 residents, accessing personal data, including Social Security Numbers.
To protect residents and staff members while still providing a high quality of life, senior living centers in Richmond, VA need to implement email monitoring and threat protection as part of an overall network security strategy.
Understanding Email Threats for Senior Living Centers
Email is a great way for senior living staff to stay connected with each other and administration. However, many cyberattacks are email based. Cybercriminals target senior living center staff because they handle the personal and medical information of residents, allowing hackers to commit identity and healthcare insurance fraud.
Some of the most common email-based threats are:
Phishing
Phishing attacks use fraudulent emails to convince recipients to click on a link that is infected with malware or reveal personal information. Some phishing attacks may ask the senior living staff to buy gift cards or wire money.
Social Engineering
Social engineering enables hackers to impersonate an authority figure in an email. The email may coerce the recipient into sending money or giving up financial and personally identifiable information.
Malware
Malware attacks often use phishing emails as an attack vector. The email will ask the recipient to click on an infected link or download a document, unleashing malware.
Ransomware
Ransomware is a specific strain of malware that typically uses email as an attack vector. Once ransomware has been triggered, it encrypts data and locks down systems until a ransom is paid for a decryption key.
The Role of Email Monitoring in Senior Living
Senior living centers in Richmond, VA need to create safe environments for their residents while still giving staff members flexibility in the ways they communicate. Email monitoring takes the burden of policing email communications off staff.
Email monitoring protects senior living staff members and caretakers before, during, and after an email enters their inbox. With email monitoring, emails infected with malware can be blocked at the point of entry to prevent employees from opening them. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can be used to detect phishing emails by identifying them through common characteristics, such as misspellings, suspicious addresses, and grammar mistakes.
Benefits of Threat Protection at Senior Living Centers in Richmond, VA
Threat protection prevents email-based attacks and other common types of cyberthreats. With threat protection, senior living centers can safeguard residents’ sensitive information, giving both residents and their families peace of mind. Threat protection prevents senior living residents from experiencing negative financial and emotional repercussions of a staff member engaging with a malicious email.
Threat protection can use AI and ML to keep spam, phishing, social engineering, and malware from entering staff’s inboxes. Typically, threat protection has strong antivirus capabilities that enable it to identify and defend against known and emerging malware virus types.
By taking a proactive approach to email security, threat protection eliminates the need to remediate email-based attacks. A threat is detected and blocked before resident data can be stolen or compromised.
Choosing Email Protection for Senior Living Centers in Richmond
When looking for a technology partner to provide email protection, senior living centers should consider which email monitoring and threat protection capabilities the partner offers, how the solutions will integrate with the existing network and email platform, and the level of understanding of industry compliance.
DVD Networks has deep expertise that comes from over 20 years of experience delivering IT services to senior living centers in Richmond, VA. As part of our cybersecurity solutions, we provide Email Security, including spam and malware protection. As a Richmond-area technology provider, we understand the email-based threats senior living centers in the region experience.
DVD specializes in managed IT services for networking and communications. For senior living centers, we provide:
- Data Protection
- Network Management
- Cloud Solutions for Network
- Carrier Solutions
- IT Consulting & Project Management
Our team can deliver local IT services to modernize network and endpoint technology or customize a cybersecurity strategy to meet the needs of senior living centers in Richmond, VA.
Learn how to protect the employees at your senior living center from email-based attacks. Request a proposal for senior living IT from DVD.
