Zscaler + IGEL – Securing and Transforming Healthcare

The healthcare industry is at a crossroads. With an ever-growing reliance on digital systems, electronic health records, connected medical devices, and remote care, healthcare IT leaders face mounting pressure to deliver secure, reliable, and seamless digital experiences. At the same time, cyber threats are escalating—ransomware, data breaches, and endpoint vulnerabilities are now daily headlines.

That’s why we’re excited to share insights during our session “Zscaler + IGEL – Securing and Transforming Healthcare,” at IGEL’s Now and Next Conference in Frankfurt, November 4–6, 2025. Together, Zscaler and IGEL deliver a modern, preventative approach that reduces risk, lowers costs, and empowers healthcare organizations to focus on patient care rather than IT complexity.

The Challenge: Healthcare Under Attack

Healthcare is one of the most targeted industries for cyberattacks. Legacy endpoint models—built on patching, monitoring, and remediating—are proving insufficient. Traditional approaches leave organizations exposed and drive up both CapEx and OpEx costs through endpoint agents, VPN clients, and continual remediation cycles.

For clinicians and staff, these security challenges often translate into frustration:
– Delays accessing patient records
– Complex login workflows
– Downtime caused by ransomware recovery
– Higher risk of data breaches impacting patient safety

In healthcare, where every second matters, outdated IT models simply cannot keep up.

A New Model: Preventative Security by IGEL

IGEL has reimagined endpoint security with its Preventative Security Model^TM. Unlike the old “monitor, detect, mitigate, remediate” approach, IGEL OS takes a proactive stance: it eliminates the need for multiple endpoint agents (anti-virus, backup, VPN, DLP, etc.), reduces the attack surface by up to 95%, and prevents ransomware at the endpoint.

Key benefits for healthcare:
– Rapid recovery in minutes, not weeks
– Extended device lifecycle, reducing unnecessary hardware upgrades
– Simplified IT operations, freeing staff from endless patching and testing
– Lower OpEx and CapEx costs—up to 90% savings in real-world deployments

This preventative approach isn’t just about better security—it’s about enabling clinicians and staff to work without disruption, ensuring technology supports rather than hinders patient care.

IGEL OS for Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery

Uninterrupted access to critical applications and data is essential in healthcare. That’s why IGEL OS offers flexible delivery models for business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR).

The four pillars of IGEL BC&DR include:
– Resilience: Read-only, secure endpoints that remain uncompromised even during attacks.
– Flexibility: Multiple delivery models including local installs, IGEL USB Boot (USB-based OS on demand), and cloud integration to ensure rapid endpoint activation.
– Rapid Recovery: Devices can be re-provisioned or repurposed in minutes, minimizing downtime for frontline staff.
– Consistency: Centralized management via IGEL Universal Management Suite (UMS) guarantees standardized policies and compliance across diverse environments.

For healthcare providers, these models ensure that clinical staff can keep working during outages, ransomware incidents, or sudden infrastructure failures. Whether it’s spinning up endpoints in a new location, recovering compromised devices, or ensuring remote access for telehealth, IGEL OS keeps care delivery running smoothly.

Zscaler + IGEL: Zero Trust for Healthcare

The partnership between Zscaler and IGEL brings together two powerful forces in modern security:

– IGEL OS 12 (local install or UD Pocket): A lightweight, read-only operating system designed for healthcare endpoints.
– Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA) & Zscaler Private Access (ZPA): Secure Service Edge solutions that enforce Zero Trust, inspect traffic in real time, prevent data loss, and eliminate the need for VPNs.
– Cloud Browser Isolation (CBI): Keeps healthcare workers safe from web-based threats without impacting productivity.

This integration delivers cloud enforced Zero Trust access from secure, read-only IGEL endpoints, with inline inspection, centralized management through IGEL UMS, and a seamless end-user experience.

For healthcare organizations, the benefits are clear:
– Secure, compliant access for clinicians across hospitals, clinics, and remote locations
– Reduced attack vectors across diverse, hybrid environments
– Faster onboarding of staff and contractors without heavy IT overhead
– Improved resilience against ransomware and insider threats

Transforming Healthcare IT

Together, Zscaler and IGEL empower healthcare organizations to:

– Modernize endpoint strategies by moving away from agent-heavy, costly models
– Adopt Zero Trust seamlessly across devices and locations
– Ensure business continuity even during cyberattacks or infrastructure failures
– Enhance patient care by removing IT roadblocks for clinicians
– Drive cost savings while improving compliance and reducing risk

In a sector where protecting data is as important as protecting lives, preventative security and Zero Trust are no longer optional—they’re essential.

Join Us in Frankfurt

Join us at IGEL’s Now and Next Conference in Frankfurt, November 4–6, 2025, for our session “Zscaler + IGEL – Securing and Transforming Healthcare.” Whether you’re a healthcare IT leader, a security professional, or simply looking to understand how to protect your organization from the next ransomware attack, this session will provide actionable insights to help you secure the future of healthcare.