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Better Breach Prevention For Dentists

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Better Breach Prevention For Dentists

Most dentists today leverage technology to run their practices. They understand the need for data security, but often don’t know how to go about it. In many cases they fall short when it comes to a breach prevention strategy that keeps sensitive patient information safe.

Dentists are leaders in digital transformation. They were early adopters of technology, using it to efficiently grow their practices. They gained better diagnostics, more treatment planning capacities, a slicker booking process, and better patient management and patient experience, ultimately making it easier to be competitive and profitable. 

By the mid 2010’s we saw cybercrime and tactics like ransomware become terminal threats to businesses across all industries. As dental technology capabilities grew, so grew their vulnerability to cybercrime. Security has evolved, but so have the nefarious criminals exploiting them. The need for breach prevention is ongoing and has never been more critical.

Defending dental practices.

Alexio Corporation recognized the challenges in dental technology along with the ramping up of regulatory compliance and privacy laws that dental professionals needed to maintain. The lack of specialized privacy and cybersecurity professionals serving the dental market meant practices were in danger of being left vulnerable targets in the rapidly changing digital landscape. 

In 2017, Alexio set out on a course to find and create technologies that would allow dentists to keep their networks secure and dependable. Today, Alexio is an important part of breach prevention for Canadian dentists by using automation, machine learning, and now AI to keep networks secure. 

Even though Alexio protects their clients across Canada and has won many awards for their Alexio Defender security technology, there is still a missing piece in the defense against breaches and ransomware, one that no amount of technology available today can completely remedy.

The big problem is people.

It’s not always technology that fails us when it comes to data breaches. More often it’s the people who use it. An estimated 82% of breaches can be traced back to the human element. At a dental practice, this could be a well-meaning receptionist, the new hygienist, trusted lab partners, or even the IT provider. 

Cyber criminals know this and exploit that human factor to penetrate systems because it works. They use threats, intimidation, confusion, and lies to manipulate people into granting access. Victims are often unaware they’ve been compromised until it’s too late. This makes any untrained team member the #1 risk in an organization’s cybersecurity defense plan. 

Thankfully, the solution is simple. Train anyone who has access to patients and practice data on how to keep it safe, and keep those skills up to date.

Cybersecurity awareness is key.

Security awareness training improved human defenses against phishing by 87% in a study of healthcare organizations. That’s good news for prevention. 

The problem is, not all cybersecurity programs are created equal. Most have abstract concepts with complex terminology that do not address the specific needs of dental practices. They fluctuate wildly in price and quality. Programs can cost anywhere from free videos online, up to thousands of dollars for each participant. 

The truth is that many practice owners and managers simply don’t know what to choose or where to start when it comes to training their teams. No business can afford to waste time or money, so it becomes easy for a small team to think they’re not a target or that they have proper policies in place (when they actually don’t). Today, cybersecurity remains one of the most ignored aspects of practice management, leaving dental practices open to data loss, downtime and financial loss due to breaches, hacking, ransomware, and other forms of cybercrime.

Better training was needed.

One of the founders of Alexio, Anne Genge, decided to solve this problem. 

Genge is a well-known cybersecurity expert and professional speaker in the dental industry. She knows standardized online training for dental teams combined with a secure infrastructure makes the best breach prevention strategy. 

She also knows the emotional toll on practice owners when there’s a virus attack, ransomware, server crash or other things that cause downtime. She wanted to create peace of mind, remove the fear and complexity, and help people have solid, reliable strategies for coping when things don’t always go as planned.

Hello myla™

Myla Training Company was founded by Genge in 2021 to provide dental teams with essential cybersecurity awareness training and more.

“No one really enjoys training, no matter what the subject is. I knew I was going to have to incorporate a lot of the strategies that have worked in my live training over the years. People need context. They need real life case examples, humor, and plain language. These are at the core of the myla™ programs. Today my same quality curriculum is available in the online platform, and at a price everyone can afford.” –  Anne Genge

myla™ is an online training platform where dental professionals can improve their cyber defenses with on demand and live programs that cover everything from basic training to understanding how to build a cybersecurity program, including disaster prevention and recovery. Practice managers can even create their own internal policies and procedures. All this makes it easy and affordable to equip the entire team.

The ultimate goal at myla is to make everyone safer online, starting with dental professionals. But myla has big plans to expand programs to everyone (not just dentists) because technology has become embedded into our daily lives. Every individual risks their privacy being compromised, and potentially losing money – or worse – if they remain ignorant. The good news is that threats can easily be prevented or mitigated with a little know-how.

Better together.

Alexio has worked alongside Canadian dental teams for years in the fight to defend patients and practice data against breaches. With myla training on top of Alexio’s industry-leading security, dentists have everything they need to ensure their systems are safe and that people working with their data and technology are operating in a way that does not put the practice at risk.

To learn more about myla, visit myla.training

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