AI will usher in new generation of advanced security software
Healthcare IT and information security executives just got a glimpse of what the next generation of security software might look like and the new functionalities imminent products will bring to customers.
IT consultancy Gartner noted that by 2020 at least 75 percent of security software tools on the market will include predictive and prescriptive analytics based on heuristics, artificial intelligence capabilities or machine learning algorithms to essentially augment hospitals’ oft-limited security operations and staff.
"The overall security market is undergoing a period of disruption due to the rapid transition to cloud-based digital business and technology models that are changing how risk and security functions deliver value in an organization," Gartner principal analyst Deborah Kish said.
[Also: Survival guide for a world overflowing with unsecured medical devices]
Gartner added that its recent research into security spending found that organizations across industries, not just healthcare, have developed a preference for buying security and risk management technologies as cloud computing or software-as-a-service offerings. “SaaS for security and risk management is becoming critical as customers transition to digital business practices,” Gartner said.
IDC, another tech-focused consulting firm, predicted that the move to cloud computing for applications and infrastructure amid widespread digital transformation will effectively change the nature of hospital IT shops into lines of business that purchase cloud services to conduct much of the functionality they have historically performed in-house.
Hospitals in particular are going to need a new crop of advanced security tools in the near future as the industry grapples with a staffing crisis, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
HHS, in fact, said that three out of four hospitals do not actually have a dedicated security professional on staff and among the ones looking to hire infosec talent open positions frequently take six or more months to fill because so many applications simply aren’t qualified.
“The threat landscape and rise in the number of high-impact security incidents are creating demand for security technologies and innovations that deliver greater effectiveness," Kish said.
Twitter: SullyHIT
Email the writer: tom.sullivan@himssmedia.com
