Route1 Inc.

  Operating as GroupMobile, Route1 is North America's most advanced provider of ultra-secure mobile workforce solutions, user authentication solutions, and data intelligence solutions. Visit  https://www.route1.com/ for more details.  

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Multi-factor Authentication Solutions that Overcome MFA Centralization Issues in Finance, Healthcare and Government

According to the Bitglass 2018 BYOD Report, 51 percent of 400 surveyed IT experts say mobile device threats have increased, but only 30 percent feel they are correctly guarding against them. That’s a big problem for sectors like healthcare, finance, and government that are turning to multi-factor authentication solutions to secure data access in the mobile age.

Multi-factor authentication is widely seen as the most viable approach to user access security across these and other sectors. Despite its many benefits, a centralized approach to roll-out has proven to be a challenge for IT teams and end users for several reasons. First off, all multi-factor authentication methods are not created equal nor do they use the same form factors and application methods.

Depending on the form factor and implementation method, MFA can get pushback from the workforce, IT teams, and those that must contain costs in an enterprise. Each group has the following concerns:

• Workforce fears of inconvenience and user friction for system, applications, databases, mobile devices, and desktops • Technical implementation and management complexity by IT and system administrators • Unrestrained implementation, rollout, and ongoing management costs of the systems

A perfect example of challenges with standalone multi-factor authentication solutions is remote access to the email exchange server where security concerns are an ever-present issue. Traditional VPNs fall short of the data-in-transit security needs for PHI, PII and other sensitive data that must flow beyond the safety of the network.

Here is where exchange online multi-factor authentication becomes a dual challenge for enterprises. On the one hand, end users, IT personnel, and exchange administrators must deal with constant VPN access permission sign on and possible data in transit security challenges posed by traditional VPN. Traditional VPNs also put data at risk by transporting data between the network and the device.

Healthcare, finance, and government entities are continually dealing with staffing changes and contractors that will need temporary access to a wide variety of systems and applications. This makes for a great deal of work for IT teams and system administrators that must track and manage those access permissions cycles. The best way to address these challenges collectively is via a single adaptable form factor that can deliver an ideal UX and broad integration capabilities while providing trusted security and cost-effectiveness.

Fragmented identities and decentralized apps pose broad security risks and enforcement issues for Software as a Service (SaaS), cloud, and on-premises applications.

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Solving the Secure Remote Access Dilemma in the Era of Health System Mergers

M&A activity across healthcare enterprises continues to speed up as they seek to lower costs and increase profitability in a competitive healthcare landscape. That’s reflected in the 27 health system mergers in Q1 2019 according to the latest M&A Activity Report from Kauffman Hall. One of the chief challenges in these new organizations are data security and access.

Each merger may result in hundreds of “new” support personnel accessing networks, countless health information systems (HIS), and medical devices across disparate healthcare locations. This leaves System admins and security/IT teams in a constant state of catch-up as they seek a unified and transparent approach to access authorization and security through advanced multi-factor authentication solutions.

Overcoming Access Challenges with Multi-factor Authentication Solutions

Overcoming the challenge of identifying users in real time and providing anywhere, anytime access based on roles will set the stage for success or failure of a health system merger. The root of the problem lies in how M&A creates challenges for creating an accurate, responsive, and centralized user profile system across a changing active directory. Things only get more complicated with electronic protected health information (ePHI) data scattered across a healthcare enterprise’s cloud applications and information systems.

Passwords can be an easy target for hackers that can become even more vulnerable post-merger by allowing them to exploit loopholes in security systems. The problem of insufficient password protocols can be seen in a recent Health Informatics Research (HIS) Brief.

HIS assembled the brief from over 200 medical professional respondents that showed 74 percent of them admitting to sharing EHR access credentials with others. This statistic is one of many that reveals the need for advanced multi-factor authentication products and the challenge of making access authorization simple for users.

Overcoming Access Authorization Complexity

Enterprise EHRs may have dozens of clinical workflows requiring authentication, which is just one example where user convenience can conflict with secure access. The varied access endpoints increase the conflict even more. In the age of mobility and BYOD, this can include:

Desktops, tablets and smartphones for network and cloud application access to point-of-care (POC) medical devices

Medical carts

Drug dispensary systems Telemedicine access points Other vital care management and monitoring points.

Medical devices either at the POC or patient-imbedded devices will require simple but stringent data access security methods so that authorized health professionals can monitor and adjust the device parameters. This may require a mix of professionals that need both POC and remote access via wireless and cloud connectivity.

Embedded medical device security has been traditionally lacking where they connect to sensors, monitors and the hospital network. Multi-factor authentication methods for access to these systems are crucial to decreasing both PHI data theft and hacks that can cause patient harm.