In today’s digital landscape, cyber threats are consistently evolving and becoming increasingly sophisticated. As a result, it is crucial for dental practices to prioritize keeping your software up to date as new updates become available. Regularly updating your dental software is not only just good cyber-security hygiene but also an essential step in safeguarding your practice against potential threats.
What are the security risks of using outdated software?
If your practice has never been a victim of a cyber-attack, it may be hard to imagine the possibility of your practice being at risk. The unfortunate reality, however, is that using outdated software, especially software that is several updates behind, can put you at risk and make your practice more vulnerable to cyber-attacks.
Why?
We live in a time where technology continues to accelerate, which can be a positive thing in a lot of ways. Software developers continually optimize programs to do more but also to run more efficiently, securely, and smoothly. This ensures that software users have an improved experience. The other side of this coin, however, is that hackers also improve upon their methods and find new ways to exploit programs and systems as time goes on. The more outdated a software is, the greater the opportunity for hackers to find exploitable opportunities.
The Role of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly playing a role in how cyberattacks are carried out. Hackers utilize AI and machine learning to discover weaknesses in systems and to efficiently automate, accelerate and spread cyberattacks. This increases the chances of finding and causing damage to victims. AI can be utilized in various ways by hackers, from sending out AI-generated campaigns (e.g. phishing, smishing, etc.) or tampering with your practice data without detection.
While AI is rapidly advancing, and hackers continually find ways to use it to harm organizations and individuals, software developers can also use AI to test updates, ensuring the newest updates are ready for use faster than before.
While cyber threats evolve over time, measures available to overcome them must do so as well. Developers update software to respond to both specific and theoretical threats, as well as to reduce the impact of diverse types of threats. Even updates (or software patches) with no discernible new features may contain something more valuable than any new feature – changes designed to prevent known and potential threats. These updates can include advanced encryption methods and improved data protection protocols that would significantly reduce the risk of your practice falling victim to a cyberattack.
In general, older technology is more vulnerable to cyberattacks than technology that is regularly updated to adapt to new threats. Note that this rule of thumb applies to all types of software and programs, not just your dental software. If your practice is a few updates behind in any of your software, check for an update to ensure there are no gaps in security.
If your practice uses an outdated version of ABELDent, consider updating to the latest version (ABELDent 15) as soon as you can. Your update will include a self-updating mechanism that will provide you with regular updates to keep your system up-to-date and improve your protection. In addition, ABELDent 15 will also provide immediate improvement designed to improve your system and data security, including advanced clinical notes protections and improved password protections.
How do I update to ABELDent version 15?
Contact our team to get started updating to ABELDent 15. If you want to get the most value out of your practice management software, consider ABELDent’s guided update plan.
