Cloud Misconfigurations in Healthcare: How Poor Security Controls Threaten Patient Confidentiality and Compliance

Healthcare is one of the most significant industries in the global economy. In 2021, global healthcare spending reached $9.8 trillion, accounting for approximately 10.3% of global GDP. The investment in cloud technology within the healthcare sector is also growing rapidly and is projected to reach $89 billion by 2027.

With this increased reliance on cloud services, new challenges have emerged in protecting patient data and sensitive information.

Patient charts and health records are crucial, as they provide insights into diagnoses, family history, and risks of predisposed diseases. However, when this information falls into the wrong hands, it can pose serious risks.

In this blog, we will explore a real-world cloud misconfiguration in healthcare, the associated risks, and practical steps healthcare organisations can take to prevent such errors—focusing on Australian cybersecurity standards like the **Essential Eight (E8)** and ASD's Blueprint for a Secure Cloud.

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What Are Cloud Misconfigurations?

In short, cloud misconfigurations occur when security settings are incorrectly applied, leaving cloud infrastructure and data exposed to unauthorised access. This can range from granting overly broad permissions, allowing unnecessary access to applications or services, to neglecting critical software updates.

Common Types of Cloud Misconfigurations

• Overly permissive access controls (e.g., cloud storage set to public access).
• Lack of encryption for confidential health records.
• Incorrect firewall settings or open ports.
• Poor identity and access management (IAM) configurations.

Poorly configured cloud storage health care can compromise patients’ trust and present significant security risks.

Bad actors can gain access to personal information, which may be exploited for fraud, blackmail, or scams. Additionally, non-compliance with Australia’s strict data protection policies can lead to serious legal repercussions and substantial financial penalties for healthcare organisations.

For instance, under the  Privacy Act 1988  and the Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme, any data breach resulting from misconfigurations must be reported, and failure to comply can lead to harsh fines and loss of patient trust.

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Real-Life Example of a Cloud Misconfiguration in Healthcare

In Australia, two high-profile examples—MediSecure and Medibank—highlight the devastating impact of improperly secured cloud environments. MediSecure, a prescription exchange service, experienced a data breach where misconfigured cloud settings left sensitive health records exposed, making them easily accessible to unauthorised parties.

Similarly, Medibank, one of Australia’s largest health insurers, suffered a cyberattack due to vulnerabilities in its cloud infrastructure, resulting in the exposure of personal and medical information for millions of customers.

The fallout from these breaches was substantial, with both organisations facing public scrutiny, regulatory fines, and loss of customer trust.

In Medibank's case, attackers were able to access a vast array of personal information, including names, addresses, and medical history, while MediSecure's breach compromised private patient data tied to prescriptions.

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How Australian Healthcare Organisations Can Prevent Cloud Misconfigurations

The Essential Eight (E8), ASD’s BluePrint for A Secure Cloud, and Information Security Manual (ISM) from the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) work together to form a comprehensive cybersecurity framework for Australian organisations, particularly those managing sensitive data such as healthcare organisations.

These guidelines work together to create a cohesive and layered defence strategy for securing systems and data in various environments, including the cloud.

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Securing Cloud Data with The Essential Eight

The Essential Eight (E8) is a set of baseline mitigation strategies designed to help organisations protect themselves against a broad range of cyber threats. It focuses on preventing malware execution, limiting the extent of cyber incidents, and recovering data and systems after an attack. These eight strategies include:

• Application control
• Patch applications
• Configure Microsoft Office macros
• User application hardening
• Restrict administrative privileges
• Patch operating systems
• Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
• Regular backups

The E8 provides a practical, hands-on guide that is easy to implement and helps organisations build foundational cyber resilience. These strategies are highly relevant in the context of both on-premise and cloud systems, offering protection against common cyber threats like ransomware, data breaches, and phishing.

The Essential Eight Maturity Model is a rating system which is used, signifying the extent to which an organisation is protected against cyber threats.

To better understand how this works, you can read more about the maturity model and maturity levels here.

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Cloud Computing Guidelines For Health Data

ASD’s Blueprint for a Secure Cloud focuses specifically on the secure implementation and use of cloud services. It builds on the general security strategies from the E8 but tailors them to the cloud environment. These guidelines ensure that cloud services are configured securely and that healthcare organisations and other entities comply with regulatory requirements related to data protection.

Key areas include:

• Encryption of data at rest and in transit
• Secure configuration and hardening of cloud environments
• Identity and access management (IAM) policies
• Incident monitoring and logging in the cloud
• Compliance with the Privacy Act and healthcare-specific regulations

These guidelines extend the principles of the E8 into the cloud environment, ensuring that organisations are able to adequately secure cloud-based infrastructure and services.

In addition to this, the  Information Security Manual (ISM) provides a comprehensive risk management framework and set of controls designed to secure government and commercial systems, including cloud-based and on-premise infrastructures.

The E8, ASD’s Cloud Blueprint, and the ISM overlap significantly in their approach to managing cyber risks, but they operate at different levels of abstraction and focus:

• The E8 serves as a practical checklist that helps organisations implement fundamental security practices across any IT environment, whether on-premise or cloud-based.
• ASD’s Blueprint for a Secure Cloud take the E8 principles and adapt them specifically for cloud environments, addressing unique risks such as identity management and encryption in the cloud.
• The ISM serves as a broader, risk-based security framework, guiding organisations in adopting a lifecycle approach to security by defining systems, selecting and assessing controls, and continuously monitoring security posture.

The overlap exists in their shared goals: protecting data, controlling access, ensuring system integrity, and maintaining business continuity.

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Cloud Security In Practice for Health Data

Implementing effective cloud security for health data requires a strategic and structured approach. These frameworks provide a roadmap to safeguard sensitive patient information, ensure compliance with regulations, and proactively manage risks in a dynamic cloud environment. In practice, it can be applied as follows:

Healthcare organisations may start with the E8 as a foundational security measure, ensuring critical tasks like patching, backups, and MFA are implemented across local and cloud systems. The Blueprint for a Secure Cloud to ensure cloud configurations are secure and compliant with healthcare-specific privacy regulations. Finally, for highly sensitive data, such as medical records and health care data, the ISM will guide you in adopting a risk-based approach. This involves formally defining systems, tailoring security controls, continuously assessing these controls, and monitoring the overall security environment to stay ahead of new threats.

It is important to understand that securing a cloud environment is not a one-off effort but requires continuous attention and maintenance, underpinned by a risk-based approach to cybersecurity. We recommend partnering with a trusted IT and cybersecurity provider like Superior IT Solutions to ensure your healthcare cloud environment is consistently secure, compliant and well-maintained.

A proactive approach encompassing these guidelines and more with a trusted IT firm ensures that security risks associated with cloud-based healthcare data are continuously monitored, managed, and mitigated.

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Secure Your Healthcare Data with Cloud Computing Solutions

Are you ready to safeguard your healthcare data, improve operational efficiency, and ensure compliance with Australian cybersecurity standards? Are you unsure where to start?

Contact Superior IT today to learn how our customised cloud security solutions can protect sensitive patient information and enhance your healthcare operations.

Call us at 1300 93 77 49 or email info@superiorit.com.au to schedule a free discovery call with our cloud security experts and elevate the security of your healthcare data to the highest standards.