Healthcare organisations are increasingly strengthening cyber-resilience by improving visibility, reducing risk and adopting Zero Trust security to protect critical systems and patient care. David Finkelstein, CISO at St. Luke’ s University Health Network, tells us how the organisation used the Forescout platform, integrated with Microsoft Defender and Azure, to gain real-time visibility across more than 40,000 connected devices, enforce Zero Trust policies, reduce unauthorised vendor access and streamline its cybersecurity operations.

t. Luke’ s University Health

Network has strengthened its cybersecurity posture by implementing the Forescout platform to gain complete visibility across its growing estate of Internet of Medical Things( IoMT) devices and network endpoints while supporting its Zero Trust strategy.

The healthcare provider manages approximately 85,000 nodes. Previously, network assets and devices were tracked using infrequently updated spreadsheets and vendors could connect new devices to the network without authorisation, making it difficult to maintain an accurate view of connected assets and their security status.

By deploying the Forescout platform, which integrates with Microsoft Security Solutions including Microsoft Defender, St. Luke’ s now has comprehensive asset intelligence across all device types. The platform enables the organisation to identify every connected asset, enforce security compliance and quarantine non-compliant devices where necessary. It also enhances visibility across its Microsoft Defender and Azure

environments, supporting its progress towards HITRUST certification.

David Finkelstein, CISO at St. Luke’ s University Health Network, said:“ We’ ve been able to go from having no idea, having no understanding of who owns the asset, what’ s on the device to true visibility... Now, we can say, look, if you don’ t meet the security requirement, see you. That’ s real Zero Trust.”

The implementation has also enabled St. Luke’ s to significantly improve operational efficiency and reduce cyber-risk. The organisation can now identify the location and behaviour of all connected assets in real time, while reducing the number of risk management vendors it relies on from 38 to eight. In addition, the deployment has helped create a stronger security culture, with greater awareness across the organisation of why devices may be restricted from accessing the network when they fail to meet security requirements.

We asked David Finkelstein, CISO at St. Luke’ s University Health Network, further questions to find out more about the project.

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