# The Risk Assessment of the Security of Electronic Health Records Using Risk Matrix
## 7 Discussion  
There are sophisticated methods for protecting EHRs, and most of them work. However, some basic techniques provide the best security by detecting anomalies in accessing the records. EHRs usually feature a one-way writing of information. The records are not as interactive as social media platforms or messaging applications, and the written information is immutable. Writing information is inbound, and there is a huge amount of information being written by healthcare professionals, finance departments, and health insurance at any given moment. However, the amount of information being read or accessed is small, as the healthcare professionals or insurance agents read one patient's data at a time. Firewalls can detect such behavior and block access to huge records in a short duration, which often means the person accessing the records is not a healthcare professional, accountant, or insurance agent. Blocking the access and the device's address accessing the records protects the information. Research has shown that EHR access poses serious security threats, as attackers can access the private and sensitive data and use it for malicious purposes. Research has also shown that internal employees and cyber attackers are the two main threats to health records. The employees tend to share patients' data, which violates patients' privacy. However, the risk from such access is low, as the employee rarely uses the information for malicious purposes. Cyber attackers pose the highest risk, as their primary intention is to gain financially by blackmailing patients with their health records or using their personal details to access their financial accounts.  
The research has also shown that the lowest risks are a result of enhanced security using access control and redacting patient data when accessing the information. Usingpersonal devices poses a high risk due to their weak security. The use of generic off-the-shelf hardware and software poses the highest risk to EHRs, as cyber attackers know how to penetrate such software and hardware. Some solutions that are offered provide the best security against access to patients' records. For instance, the use of blockchain ensures that everyone has limited data on patients, and cyber attackers cannot gain complete information. Medical and insurance records of any patient are accessed using separate accounts, ensuring patients' security and privacy.  
Possible impacts of accessing EHR data include exposure to personal and sensitive data on millions of patients. The access can also lead to blackmail, extortion, or using the details to conduct another malicious attack on a patient's financial accounts. Cyber attackers target healthcare institutions for the financial gain they receive and thus will do anything for money. Internal access to the data poses no significant danger, as the employees are only interested in the details for personal conversations with other employees. Besides the ban, all healthcare professionals should be taught basic security best practices, such as noting suspicious emails or logins using their credentials.