There’s no vaccination that can stem the outbreak of recent healthcare-related data breaches. If anyone needs a reminder about why medical records are increasingly a target, just thumb through all the personal identifiable information stored in your cell phones, fitness trackers, social media, the cloud, and in service provider databases.
There are lots of reasons why medical data is so vulnerable – a fragmented industry, the explosion of electronic health records spurred by the Affordable Care Act, and medical PII’s increasing value to hackers. But the sheer numbers at risk speaks volumes.
Researchers at Keeper Security pulled together data from a number of recent reports on healthcare data security trends to create a graphical portrait of where the industry is — and where it needs to be. Take a look at our slideshow on their findings, and then let’s chat about what steps yourcompany (and you as an individual) should be taking in the fight for better health IT cyber security.
Except where noted, the data points contained in the slides were taken from the Ponemon Institute’s Fifth Annual Benchmark Study on Privacy & Security of Healthcare Data released in May of this year.
These numbers speak volumes!
The statistic on healthcare is from the Poneman study. The U.S. population figures are from a Department of Health and Human Services report reviewed by The Washington Post. That’s one-third of the U.S. population.
Ponemon estimates that data breaches could be costing the healthcare industry $6 billion a year and healthcare organizations of all sizes are at risk. The study reports that 69% of healthcare data breaches are discovered from audits or assessments.
Noting the increasing frequency, scope, and sophistication of cyberattacks in healthcare, the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) in June released a healthcare cybersecurity primer with these startling numbers. The group called for the creation of a “culture of prevention” within the industry.
According to the 2015 KPMG Healthcare Cybersecurity Survey, 81% of health care executives say that their organizations have been compromised by at least one malware, botnet, or other cyber-attack during the past two years and only half feel that they are adequately prepared in preventing attacks.
Now the good news: Since Ponemon started conducting the study in 2010, the percentage of respondents who believe their organization has personnel with the technical skills to identify and resolve data breaches has increased from 42 percent to 53 percent.
For the first time this year, criminal attacks were the number one of cause of data breaches in healthcare organizations, overtaking lost or stolen devices, which dropped down to number two.
Where does your healthcare organization (or provider) fall short in data security protection? What are some strategies that work? Let’s chat about the worst pain points and best solutions for individuals and security professionals.
Date: August 25, 2015