Healthcare without compromise with a new administration and security at the Hradec Králové Hospital

The Hradec Králové University Hospital is one of the largest medical facilities in the Czech Republic. Over 41 thousand patients are hospitalized every year at more than 40 departments with 1375 beds, of which around 40% are operated on.

Around 700 thousand patients are treated as outpatients at the hospital. The most complex surgical procedures are performed here, and the technologies used in diagnosis and treatment and the therapeutic results make the hospital comparable to similar hospitals in Europe. The Hradec Králové University Hospital is also an important research and teaching facility closely linked to the Faculty of Medicine of the Charles University in Hradec Králové.

In the challenging world of cyber threats, the Hradec Králové University Hospital is aware of the critical importance of robust data and system protection. Therefore, it implemented strict criteria for the selection of new firewall systems and endpoint protection solutions, which had to meet two key requirements: absolute compliance with the latest technology standards and seamless integration into the existing corporate security environment. Aricoma's specialists were able to meet these requirements and created a solution that not only met the client's requirements, but is also ready for future expansion of the hospital's security infrastructure.

One of the key factors in the project was the requirement to minimize the number of communication failures during the implementation of the solution and to ensure full operation already during the trial run. This enabled the hospital to minimise downtime. It was essential to guarantee the technical lifetime of the offered solution along with adequate support from the manufacturer for a minimum of 60 months from the completion of the implementation. This was to provide the hospital with long-term support and security updates, which is crucial to maintaining network security in the long term.

We successfully completed a cybersecurity elevation project for a customer. The project was completed with the utmost precision and care, ensuring that all specifications and client requirements were met. In particular, modern technology, long-term uptime and the provision of full support were key considerations.

The existing firewall solution (NGFW) was supplemented with a layer of highly available internal segmentation firewalls (ISFW) for security and performance reasons. A pair of devices was deployed as external firewalls, and another pair operates in internal segmentation firewall mode. The NGFW firewalls are based on recognised technologies and standards, forming a fundamental building block of a comprehensive security concept and are fully compatible with the hospital's existing systems. In addition, the devices are sufficiently sized and flexible for future network expansion.

Integration with the existing Sandbox solution was an obvious part of the project. The central management of the firewalls enables efficient management and monitoring of all deployed NGFWs. The project also included the implementation of a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to protect the hospital's web applications from various types of attacks. This state-of-the-art WAF solution uses, among other things, machine learning techniques to detect and block threats while minimizing false alarms.

To ensure multi-factor authentication of users, a central authentication server has been deployed, which significantly increases the level of security of access to network resources and another integrated security component serves as a specialized logging tool for all systems. In addition to long-term retention of collected logs, LogAnalyzer also enables advanced threat and vulnerability detection with event and log data correlation. The system also includes robust reporting, retrospective analysis of logged events and integration with existing SIEM.

For endpoint protection, an EDR solution was deployed to provide advanced antimalware protection for endpoints and servers. It uses machine learning at the kernel level (in Windows and Linux) which enables real-time blocking of malicious processes to effectively protect endpoints from ransomware and exfiltration. Its functionalities are natively integrated with the security ecosystem and allow integration with third-party solutions. The solution is ready for possible future expansion to XDR by simply purchasing a license.

One of our priorities was to have the device fully operational during testing and trial runs. This enabled the customer to implement everything quickly, which contributed significantly to the smooth running of the entire project. Furthermore, we ensured a guaranteed technical lifetime of the offered firewalls and full support from the manufacturer for a minimum of 60 months from the acceptance of delivery. This long-term support and regular updates are crucial to maintaining network security in the long term.

Overall, the project has delivered a fundamentally new approach and a significant improvement in the security, availability of the hospital's IT systems. The collaboration with Aricoma specialists proved to be very efficient and professional, leading to the successful completion of the project in accordance with the client's requirements.