Global healthcare is securty and data risk.
Global healthcare sector experienced more than three times the number of security incidents than an average industry and twice as likely to encounter data theft.
The Raytheon|Websense Security Labs 2015 Healthcare Drill-Down said that the healthcare sector experienced 340% more information security incidents and attacks than other industries due to the proliferation of electronic health records with sensitive data.
Patient information was up to 10 times more valuable on the black market, while the data heavy healthcare environment makes this sector more attractive to cybercriminals, according to the report.
- One in 600 attacks in the healthcare sector involved advanced malware and
- the sector was 4 times more likely to be impacted by advanced malware than any other industry due to restricted budgets and lack of skills around detection, mitigation and prevention.
- Healthcare was 74% more likely to be impacted by phishing schemes as effective security awareness training for employees was required.
- The sector is 4.5 times more likely to be impacted by Cryptowall and
- 3 times more likely to be impacted by Dyre, known for previous exploits in the financial sector.
A Websense report last year that identified a 600% increase in cyber-attacks against hospitals in a 10-month period.
High profile breaches of sensitive medical data this year, include:
- Health contractor Luxottica Retail Australia sent medical records of Australian Defence personnel to China.
- Recently over 10 million records were exposed in a data breach of health insurer Excellus BlueCross BlueShield and a partner company.
The report revealed that healthcare will become increasingly vulnerable as the new wave of connected devices hits what is an already complex technology environment.
“While the finance and retail sectors have long honed their cyber defences, our research illustrates that healthcare organisations must quickly advance their security posture to meet the challenges inherent in the digital economy – before it becomes the primary source of stolen personal information,” said Carl Leonard, Raytheon|Websense principal security analyst. …more