Rising Cybersecurity Threats In the Healthcare Industry

What do the numbers say?

• In 2021, the HIPAA reported 713 major healthcare data breaches affecting 45 million individuals, an increase of more than 7.5 percent compared to the previous year.
• In a report published in July, the number of ransomware attacks on the healthcare industry in the United States increased by a whopping 94% over the previous year. In June alone, 70 healthcare data breaches were reported to the HHS Office for Civil Rights.

Prominent healthcare attacks in 2022

• In July, a cyberattack on Avamere Health Services resulted in the compromise of sensitive health information of nearly 100 covered entities and nearly 381,000 individuals.
• PFC reported a ransomware attack in February that led to a significant data breach that impacted 657 healthcare organizations. The attackers gained access to files that contained personal data.
• Insurance company Aetna ACE reported a health data breach affecting nearly 326,000 people caused by an apparent ransomware attack on a subcontractor, OneTouchPoint. Nearly 1.1 million people were affected by the hacking incident, which was discovered in April.

What makes the healthcare sector susceptible?

• The Healthcare industry carries Protected Health Information like patients’ confidential details, their medical history, and payment details.
• If a data breach takes place, the healthcare industry is most likely to pay the ransom to access its encrypted healthcare data back.
• In a recent survey conducted by Sophos, 61% of healthcare organizations are willing to pay the ransom which in comparison to the global average stands at 46%.
• Many healthcare organizations lack the infrastructure when it comes to granting third-party secure access to their systems, servers, and assets.
• Organizations have found it difficult to adapt to the ever-changing cybersecurity landscape as 63% of them concede that managing third parties is a cumbersome task for them.

How to fix this?

• Possible solutions include investing heavily in cybersecurity solutions to gain control of their security and not having to worry about managing vendors and access.
• Furthermore, real-time monitoring can assist the healthcare industry in identifying and filling gaps before an attack occurs.

Conclusion