Cyber Magazine September 2023 | Page 91

LIFELABS
Why is cybersecurity so crucial in the healthcare sector ? Following the journey of LifeLabs really highlights the significance of cyber as a construct in the medical industry . Upon joining the team , the team experienced an attack on its system , provoking the need for a dedicated CISO . These types of attacks come in abundance across the sector .
“ LifeLabs focused heavily on rebuilding stakeholder trust after the event . We embarked on this new transformation to not only ensure we were appropriately managing PHI and evolving the ways we managed and secured patient health information , but also looking at how to innovate in the cybersecurity space ,” says Melo .
The key aim here , as also mentioned by the CISO , is to become a true leader of Canada ’ s healthcare sector with zero-trust protocols embedded into everything it does .
“ I think we ’ ve done that over the past four years , since I began leading the charge in cybersecurity ,” he says . “ We have evolved . We enhanced rigorous governance surrounding the security culture within the organisation . And it ’ s not just within the security practice , it brings accountability and responsibility to all of our users .”
As the old cliche goes , “ teamwork makes the dream work ” Much of this exercise involves team building , which is where Melo ’ s role really takes shape with backing from the company ’ s President and CEO , Charles Brown . Aligning being a key theme for the organisation , Melo was responsible for developing an approach to team building that allowed both the cyber operations and the IT teams to collaborate as one . This involved first understanding both sides of the coin and then determining a process that meets the needs of both .
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