InfoSec Practices - a Survey Conducted in Greek Hospitals

BACKGROUND: Langerhans The information technology is present in every aspect of private, social, and professional sphere and is constantly evolving whilst remaining vulnerable to security alerts and attacks. The healthcare sector contains sensitive information and can be compromised causing even fatal delays to healthcare delivery, loss of reputation of the organizations, and traumatic experiences for patients who might be stigmatized by the disclosure of their medical files. Infosec practices that are applied by nurses can make the difference in defending or compromising healthcare data. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this research is to investigate the Infosec practices which are applied by nurses who work in Greek hospitals. Correlation between the Infosec practices, the knowledge on Infosec policies, and attitude towards Infosec policies will be further examined. METHODS: The KAP model is applied and the HAIS-Q tool consisted of 45 items in five areas of interest was used. A sample of 277 nurses was collected. Confidentiality issues and consent were respected. IBM SPSS 25.0 was used for the statistical analysis. Descriptive analysis (mean, st. dev.) and inferential statistics, ANOVA, and Pearson Corerelations were conducted. The significance level was set up to 0.05. RESULTS: A strong correlation between knowledge on Infosec policies and attitude towards Infosec policies, attitude towards Infosec policies and Infosec practices, and knowledge on Infosec policies and Infosec practices was established. Nurses apply good Infosec practices in three out of five areas of interest, while their practices concerning the report of security violations and their practices related to the Internet usage are average. Overall, nurses’ Infosec awareness is good. CONCLUSION: The findings showed that nurses demonstrate average to good knowledge on Infosec policies, good attitude towards Infosec policies, good to average Infosec practices and good total Infosec awareness.The most vulnerable area is the Internet usage.