CY B E RC R I M E S
Continue to Threaten Healthcare Industry BY MAT THEW C. BERTKE, CPA, MBA, PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, COVERYS
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or the sixth consecutive year, data breaches in the healthcare industry have increased – not only in frequency, but in size, cost, and impact on the reputations of affected organizations. According to the Sixth Annual Benchmark Study on Privacy and
Security of Healthcare Data conducted by the Ponemon Institute, nearly 90 percent of the surveyed healthcare organizations experienced a data breach in the past two years, with 45 percent reporting more than five data breaches in that period.
Electronic Healthcare Data Creates New Risks New technologies have increased vulnerability to cybercrimes. With increased use of open wireless networks, as well as mobile and cloud environments, data has become more liquid and less controlled – particularly as it is migrated to an electronic health record or other digitized format. The problem is exacerbated as this data is processed, transferred, and shared between providers, clinics, hospitals, labs, treatment facilities, care homes, and billing entities. Recent trends reported in Experian’s Data Breach Response Guide forecast that healthcare organizations will be the most targeted sector in 2017 as new, increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks emerge. In response to that report, Ann Patterson, senior vice president of the Medical Identity Fraud Alliance, commented: 22
T R I A D | S U M M E R 2018
Key Drivers Behind Cyberattacks The healthcare cybersecurity market is segmented by type of threat: malware, advanced persistent threats, spyware, lost and stolen devices, etc. Currently, the global healthcare cybersecurity spend is forecast to reach nearly $10.84 billion by 2022, largely driven by increased incidences in cyberattacks involving: • The use of cloud services
“The consequences of a medical
• Unsecure networks
data breach are wide-ranging,
• Employee negligence
with devastating effects across the
• Lack of internal identification and security systems
board — from the breached entity to consumers who may experience medical ID fraud to the healthcare industry as a whole. There is no silver bullet for cybersecurity; however, making good use of trends and analysis to keep evolving our cyber protections along with forecasted threats is vital.”
No healthcare organization is immune from cyberattack. Despite the growing epidemic, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society reported that the majority of providers will continue to rely on a limited portfolio of basic security tools focused on antivirus, malware, and firewall vulnerabilities, as well as prevention, encryption, detection, authentication, and protection strategies.
• Stolen devices with unencrypted files • The misuse of electronic patient medical records
Types of Cyberattacks In the healthcare industry, criminal and malicious cyberattacks have been the leading cause of data breaches over the past two years. Fifty percent of respondents to the Ponemon Institute survey reported criminal attack as the most frequent type of breach experienced. Following is a list of various types of breaches…
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