Symantec for the first time will be taking an interactive approach to engaging customers and conference goers with the debut of mobile hacking and ransomware demonstrations at HIMSS18.  

Whether attendees who come to the company’s booth are using a corporate issued mobile device or their own, the demo will show how easy it is and how susceptible devices are to compromise. 

“This is real and this is relevant. We’ve seen a 100 percent year-on-year growth in mobile based malware attacks including IOS devices like the iPhone,” said Healthcare Regional Director Tony Douglas. “So it’s important. This is a meaningful issue and we’re going to show hands on exactly how easy it is to compromise a mobile device.” 

Symantec employees will also be rolling up their sleeves to highlight the ransomware threat. Within their booth’s cyber command center, visitors will have the ability to participate in a real ransomware attack with the goal being to help individuals test their ability to respond to such a cyberthreat.

“Ransomware is the number one type of attack that has plagued healthcare industry,” Douglas said. “The goal is to bring light to the issue and do it in a way that is thought-provoking and interactive, allowing our experts to sit down and participate.”

Douglas said another major focus area will be cloud adoption, and you’ll hear a lot about taking a platform approach to securing your cloud-first technology, which basically boils down to expanding on what you already have.

“Our main message is that the strategy of how you secure your cloud needs to remain consistent on how you secure the rest of your environment,” Douglas added. “It really becomes a matter of extending your existing security controls to the cloud.”

Symantec is in Booth 2429.

Twitter: @BethJSanborn
Email the writer: beth.sanborn@himssmedia.com