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How to Secure Remote Access to Your Dental Practice
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Ezra Angelo
- • October 13, 2025
Remote access to your dental practice systems is genuinely useful. The problem is that unsecured remote access is one of the most exploited entry points in dental practice cyberattacks.
Your IT provider needs it to support your servers and workstations without driving to your office. You may need it to access records from home or another location. Each of these is a legitimate use case. Each also creates a potential entry point if not properly secured.
The Change Healthcare breach in February 2024, which disrupted insurance claims processing for dental offices across the country for weeks, began with a single set of compromised credentials on a remote access portal that had no Multi-Factor Authentication. One unprotected access point. One stolen password. Consequences that reached across the entire dental industry.
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2024 #1 entry
method
Credential-based attacks were the top ransomware entry method in both 2023 and 2024.
Remote access without MFA is the most common form of credential-based attack in healthcare. Enabling MFA on remote access is the single highest-impact security control for practices that allow any form of remote connectivity.
What Remote Access Looks Like in a Dental Practice
Remote access in a dental practice typically takes one of three forms. Each has legitimate uses. Each also creates a potential entry point if not properly secured.
Allows a user to control a workstation or server remotely using Windows’ built-in remote desktop capability. Direct RDP exposed to the internet is the most aggressively scanned target in healthcare cybersecurity.
Creates an encrypted tunnel between a remote device and your practice network. Safer than direct RDP, but only when paired with MFA. A VPN protected only by password is still vulnerable to credential attacks.
Tools used by IT providers to access and manage your systems for support and maintenance. Vendor RMM access that stays active permanently rather than being enabled only when needed is a common vulnerability.
Why Unsecured Remote Access Is Dangerous
Check every risk that applies to your practice’s current remote access setup. Each one represents an active vulnerability.
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Four steps to secure remote access in a dental practice
Enable MFA on every remote access method
No remote access should be protected by password alone. VPN, RDP, and vendor RMM tools all require MFA. This is the single highest-impact security change a practice can make.
Close direct RDP access from the internet
Remote desktop should go through a VPN, not be directly exposed. Direct RDP on the default port is one of the most scanned targets in healthcare cybersecurity and should not be internet-facing.
Require time-limited vendor sessions
Vendors should have access only when a support session is active. Always-on permanent vendor access with a shared password is a significant vulnerability that vendors and IT providers should not be operating.
Audit who has remote access
Remove access for former vendors and staff immediately. Access credentials that were never revoked after a vendor relationship ended or a staff member departed remain active attack vectors.
The Right Way to Set Up Remote Access
VPN with MFA
A VPN that requires Multi-Factor Authentication is the most secure common remote access solution for dental practices. The VPN creates an encrypted connection between the remote device and your network. MFA ensures that even if the VPN credentials are stolen, the attacker cannot connect without the second factor. Your IT provider configures the VPN on your firewall and manages MFA enrollment for authorized users.
Zero trust remote access
Some practices and DSOs implement zero trust network access, which grants remote users access only to the specific resources they need rather than the entire network. A billing staff member working remotely gets access to the billing module but not the server. An IT provider gets access to the server they are working on but not unrelated systems. This limits the damage if any single set of credentials is compromised.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ekim IT Solutions works exclusively with dental practices. We serve New England and New York with on-site support and dental practices nationwide with remote support. We audit and secure remote access to your practice systems with MFA, encrypted connections, and access controls that meet HIPAA requirements and keep unauthorized users out.
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- • October 13, 2025
