Kaspersky supports healthcare institutions with free software to help them stay protected from cyberthreats amid the COVID-19 pandemic. — Photo courtesy of the company

Kaspersky announced free availability of its core endpoint security products for six months for medical organisations to help them stay protected from cyberthreats during the COVID-19 pandemic.

They include Endpoint Security Cloud Plus, Security for Microsoft Office 365, Endpoint Security for Business Advanced, and Hybrid Cloud Security.

Evgeniya Naumova, vice president of the company’s global sales, said: “In this critical situation, healthcare institutions are under immense pressure and carry a 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 all support possible.

“In order to help these organisations focus on what matters most, we now offer healthcare institutions free licences for key Kaspersky corporate products for a six-month period.”

Kaspersky also suggested that medical institutions should follow cybersecurity practices as soon as possible, including providing basic security awareness education for both medical and administration workers, checking their protection solution to make sure it is up to date and switching on a firewall to ensure protection from threats emanating from the internet.

They should ensure all specific medical devices such as ventilators are properly configured and updated, it said.

If there is a chance that the number of such devices increases rapidly, they should develop a dedicated procedure to quickly install and configure all new devices, it said.

Some hospitals are hiring new staff on an emergency basis, which means increasing the number of endpoints, including the new employees’ personal devices, and this could damage visibility and control over corporate IT, and so IT services should pay special attention to adding protection to these new devices, it added. — VNS