Kettering Health Enhances IT Security with XM Cyber Amidst COVID-19 Challenges

Kettering Health is a well-recognized healthcare network that operates 13 medical centers and over 120 outpatient locations, serving more than 30,000 users. The organization is known for its brand recognition scores that consistently chart 20% above average. The healthcare network has a large IT network team that was overwhelmed with the task of maintaining cyber hygiene amidst the aggressive rollout of the EPIC Electronic Health Records system and the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization is committed to maintaining a strong security posture and aligning with NIST security controls.

Kettering Health, a healthcare network supporting 13 medical centers, over 120 outpatient locations, and more than 30,000 users, was in the process of implementing layered defenses and aligning with NIST security controls when an aggressive rollout of the EPIC Electronic Health Records system fully consumed all IT resources. This resulted in a stall in cyber hygiene activities, leading to configuration drift. The situation was further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the IT staff to pivot from routine maintenance to address new security challenges presented by a mobile and remote workforce of first responders. The complexity of the situation, coupled with scarce resources, made it difficult to reestablish cyber hygiene. Limited visibility into the status of security tools, time-consuming manual analysis, and an overwhelmed IT network team further complicated the situation.

To maintain a strong security posture, Kettering Health selected XM Cyber for its ability to continuously monitor the IT security infrastructure and provide actionable insights and recommendations. This helped ensure cyber hygiene, achieve compliance with regulatory frameworks, and fully optimize tool configurations across the security ecosystem. The platform’s ability to prioritize based on critical security controls and business impact was also a key factor in the decision. XM Cyber's simple dashboard provided instant insight into the state of the systems, potential misconfigurations, and policy failures, all mapped to critical security controls. This allowed the team to quickly evaluate situations and take immediate action, rather than spending time on root cause analysis. The dashboard also proved invaluable in reporting to the Board on the status of information security and progress in aligning with the NIST Cybersecurity Framework.

• The implementation of XM Cyber has significantly improved Kettering Health's IT security environment. The platform's continuous monitoring and actionable insights have enabled the organization to maintain cyber hygiene and comply with regulatory frameworks, despite the challenges posed by the EPIC Electronic Health Records system rollout and the COVID-19 pandemic. The ability to prioritize based on critical security controls and business impact has streamlined the organization's security processes. The simple dashboard has not only facilitated quick evaluations and immediate action but has also been instrumental in reporting to the Board on the status of information security and progress in aligning with the NIST Cybersecurity Framework.

• Real-time visibility into the state of network security tools

• Transformed cyber hygiene processes to ensure strong defense against cyber threats

• Ability to quickly evaluate situations and take immediate action, reducing time spent on root cause analysis