We live in an exciting time. Technological advances have showered almost every industry with innovation, leading us to breakthroughs that have made our lives simpler, our worlds bigger, our understanding greater.
These advances have also made information more accessible, which in many ways, is revolutionary. Can you imagine driving to a new location without the help of Google Maps, or no longer having the latest news at your fingertips? But, when information falls into the wrong hands, things stop being revolutionary and start getting dangerous.
We are inundated with technology at every turn, and while encryptions and password protections may give the illusion of safety, much of our information is up for grabs. Especially when it comes to our most personal and private data: health care records.
Health care information is a highly coveted get for cybercriminals. In fact, IBM data shows that health care took the top spot in cyberattacks in 2015. Five of the eight largest breaches in health care since 2010 happened in the first six months of 2015, and more than 111 million health care records were compromised just that year.
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According to Forbes with data from the Office for Civil Rights, that’s nearly 35 percent of the U.S. population. The lion’s share of those records were at risk due to Anthem’s breach, which accounted for 78 million penetrated records in February 2015.
Reporting: Problems when you do, problems when you don’t
The Office for Civil Rights tracks health information breaches that affect 500 or more people as they are reported to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. A quick glance reveals that, since October 2009, there are nearly 1,600 cases of health-related breaches impacting over 500 people. That’s almost 195 annually for the past eight years.
But then again, that number could be far smaller than the true figure, because it only accounts for the cases that are reported.
“A lot never get reported,” say Mark Weatherford, chief cybersecurity strategist at vArmour. “That’s not endemic of the health care industry, because it happens everywhere. And it happens for a lot of reasons.”
Date: May 26, 2016