AI in Dental Care: AI Phishing’s Direct Path to Your Data

Defending Your Practice From Sophisticated Threats

The example above could easily deceive unsuspecting staff members when filled with the correct details. The days of catching improper grammar or sentence structure as signs of a phishing attempt are over. In this new age, it's crucial to equip your team with the necessary cybersecurity knowledge and AI technology to block hacking attempts effectively.

Thorough Employee Cybersecurity Training

Strong firewalls and virus protection measures play a crucial role in isolating attacks, but with over 60% of cyberattacks stemming from human social engineering — it is imperative to continually educate your staff on cyber threats. With employee cybersecurity training sessions for each facet of your practice,  team members will be better equipped to identify and report suspicious communications.

For example, consider providing staff with the example above or another hypothetical AI phishing attempt and ask them what jumps out as a security risk. Common sense will likely catch a few spelling mistakes here and there, but a cybersecurity-focused mindset would quickly see an embedded download link as a prime opportunity to deliver malware.

Whether you partner with a cyber company who offers employee cybersecurity training or ask your internal IT team to create a training seminar or internal communication, any education on the growing threat of AI attacks reduces the odds of infiltration.

Working Alongside Cyber Response Experts

The best-case scenario is catching potential threats before hackers access a practice’s digital infrastructure, but what happens when an effective social engineering attempt pays off? At this stage, the time for employee awareness is up, and swift action must be taken to prevent patient and office data from falling into the wrong hands. 

Incident response is best left to professionals who have the knowledge and expertise to properly react to an attack while protecting from further harm. When your practice is already in the midst of a data breach, hasty reactions may open your system to even more exploitation. If a hacker is sending shady ransomware demands in the form of cryptocurrency payments, inexperienced IT or practice administrators could unknowingly break the law when engaging in the transaction to gain access back.  

The right cyber response team acts as the negotiator, investigator, and recovery specialist needed to aid dental groups while in the throes of a security crisis. 

But support shouldn’t end there; providing a helping hand in the aftermath of an attack is vital to resuming normal practice operations as quickly and safely as possible. 

The Future of Online Protection

With all this discussion of hackers furthering their malevolent agendas via AI, some believe a successful hack is inevitable. We disagree.

As black hat programs develop at an accelerated pace, so do the techniques used by cybersecurity pros. Black Talon remains at the ready with the most advanced cyber tools and experienced team, ready to shape the future of digital defense in the dental community. Continue to part 3 of our AI in Dental Care series for more details on how cybersecurity firms use AI to fight against these new threats.