PATIENT DATA, CLINICAL TESTS, I+D, NEW DRUG TESTS. HOW TO KEEP THEM SAFE FROM INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL CYBER-THREATS?
PREVENTING DATA LEAKS IN PHARMACEUTICAL AND BIOTECHNOLOGY SECTOR
HOW SEALPATH HELPS PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES PROTECT AND CONTROL THEIR DATA
As pharmaceutical and biotech companies move towards more digitization and store more and more sensitive or regulated data, the greater the risk of cybersecurity incidents and data leaks.
The productive environment of this industry is increasingly connected and automated. This connectivity makes them more and more susceptible to attacks, and increases the need to secure more points within the production process. On the other hand, behind certain drugs or biotechnological advances there is a large amount of confidential and proprietary information of the company that has developed them.
WHAT TYPE OF DATA ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO PROTECTION IN THIS SECTOR?
Among the types of critical data managed by this sector, some of them must be included below:
- Patient data related to clinical trials: These data may contain sensitive patient information, which must be protected to comply with regulations such as EU-GDPR, HIPAA or similar. The loss of these data may undermine the trust of individuals or organizations that have given them to the company. It is critical not only to protect but also to audit access to this information.
- New drug test results: Based on data obtained from patient tests, a large volume of information is generated that is exchanged both internally and with other partner organizations or outsourcers. This information can be in file formats such as PDFs, Office that is necessary to have under control. From this information can derive data of certain pharmacological compounds with high competitive value for the organization.
- Sensitive information related to production processes: It can take years for a pharmaceutical or biotechnology organization to fine-tune and establish efficient processes for creating and validating new drugs. A good part of the company’s know-how is contained in documentation of the company’s processes, description of methodologies, quality guides, etc.
- Patentable research: The creation of a patent in this area can mean millions of euros in future income for the company. Organizations in this sector are not exempt from the recruitment of employees by competing companies, which at any given time may carry confidential information. This leakage of employees can occur not only in the company, but in others that are part of the production chain and have sensitive company data.
- Documentation sent to manufacturing: Prior to drug manufacturing, highly confidential content is shared internally with the company’s manufacturing areas and outsources involved in the process. This information can be in documents that are sent by email, stored in document management systems or simply stored in the teams of employees and collaborators.
- Economic projections, plans Financial and marketing information related to the launch of a specific drug: business, investments, marketing materials that position the drug against others, etc. Protecting this information is critical to take an advantage over the competition and is critical for decision making within the company.
HOW CAN SEALPATH HELP PREVENT DATA LEAKS IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL OR BIOTECHNOLOGY SECTOR?
Benefits that SealPath provides for effective prevention:
- Using SealPath, patient data related to critical trials can be protected from the moment they arrive at the company and throughout their entire life cycle. No matter what areas they pass through, or how they are shared, they will remain encrypted and their access will be audited at all times. Through encryption, access control and auditing, the means are put in place to comply with regulations such as EU-GDPR or HIPAA.
- Intellectual property related to the testing of new drugs, production processes or data derived from being patented can be protected from the moment it is generated through the automatic protection of documentation repositories (document managers, file servers, etc.). As soon as users store documents in these folders, they can be protected. In this way, if they leave the repository, they will travel protected and under the control of the company.
- On the other hand, watermarks can be established on the documentation to mitigate screenshots. The watermark includes the email address of the person who opened the document, IP address, date and time, etc.
- I can have a complete audit of data access and know if someone without permission is trying to access sensitive company information, inside or outside the organization. If an employee leaves the company, the information will continue to be protected and safe, even if he or she has taken it home.
- Sensitive information can be shared with partners and outsourcers in the production chain, so they can access documents with permissions to view, for example, but not edit, print, or copy and paste. Documents and their copies are kept secure and access to the documentation can be revoked if we stop collaborating with a partner.
- It is possible to create protection policies differentiated by departments of manufacturing, finance, marketing, research and development. Each one will be able to manage the documentation that affects it, controlling the people who can access it.
- With SealPath it is easier to have the best possible balance between security and ease of use,so that the business communication processes are not interrupted, but the data is kept protected in order to comply with regulations. SealPath offers users the ability to easily protect (with a right mouse click on a document, plugin in Outlook, etc.) the sending of information with personal or confidential data they perform.
- SealPath increases sensitivity to confidential information management. Helps maintain a culture of security in the company to prevent the departure of intellectual property or negligence in the treatment of personal or confidential data. With heavy investments in R&D it is critical for the biopharmaceutical industry to protect research data, personal data, etc., and to make internal staff aware of keeping information under control.
SealPath allows you to keep your data protected and under control wherever it goes.. It allows you to control with which permissions users can access sensitive documentation (just view, edit, print, copy and paste, etc.), and audit usage: Who accesses, when, if someone tries to access without permissions, etc. All this, even if the data is already in other networks or outside the perimeter of control of the organization. SealPath applies intelligent protection to the data that travels with them wherever they are.
[If you want to know more, download our datasheet with all detailed info]
