Kaspersky supports health care institutions amid COVID-19

Kaspersky has announced free availability of its core endpoint security products for medical organizations, in order to help them stay protected from cyber threats during the pandemic. The full list of B2B products available for free for six months includes: Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud Plus, Kaspersky Security for Microsoft Office 365, Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business Advanced and Kaspersky Hybrid Cloud Security.
Continuity of operations and data protection is extremely critical for health care organizations. Especially in the current situation, when medical organizations are under extreme pressure and have to mobilize all their forces to help people in this very challenging time. For hospitals and medical institutions it is important to ensure the stability of medical equipment and that data is constantly available for medical personnel, while also protecting the privacy of their patients’ critical information.

“In this critical situation, health care institutions are under immense pressure and carry huge responsibility while saving people’s lives and fighting against the infection. Doctors, nurses and all medical staff take on most of the load and therefore need any support possible. We feel that it is our duty to support the medical community,” said Evgeniya Naumova, vice president of the global sales network at Kaspersky. “In order to help these organizations focus on what matters most, we now offer health care institutions free licenses for key Kaspersky corporate products for a six-month period.”
Kaspersky also suggests that medical institutions implement the following cybersecurity measures:
    •    Schedule basic security awareness education for both medical personnel and administration employees — it should cover the most essential practices such as passwords and accounts, email security, use of USB devices, PC security and safe web browsing.
    •    It is the right time to check the hospital’s protection solution, make sure it is up to date, configured properly and covers all employees’ devices. Switch on a firewall to enable protection from threats coming from the Internet.
    •    Ensure all specific medical devices are properly configured and updated, such as ventilators.
    •    Some hospitals urgently hire new staff, which means growing the number of endpoints, including new employees’ personal devices. This can damage visibility and control over corporate IT, so IT services should pay special attention to adding protection to these new devices.