The healthcare pros needed to battle today’s criminal arch-villains possess speed, smarts and a desire to be perfect.

There are countless arch-villains out there setting their sights on healthcare organizations, with evil plans to wreak havoc via information technology and, in certain cases, even hold data and systems hostage. A world filled with villains requires superheroes to combat these disreputable foes. And many learned CIOs and CISOs – and other security professionals – are going above and beyond in protecting their healthcare organizations.

But what does it take to be a cybersecurity superhero? A great security worker has a variety of character traits and professional abilities.

“A good leader needs to be able to balance the proper security requirements for protection of the organization and at the same time understand and allow the organization the flexibility for speed and innovation,” said Phil Alexander, director of information security and ISO at UMC Health System and a speaker during the session “How to Become a Healthcare Security Superhero” at the HIMSS Healthcare Security Forum, September 11-13 in Boston.

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