Report: 84% of healthcare organizations identified a data breach last year
A new cybersecurity report shows the majority of healthcare organizations have faced an attempted data breach or ransomware attack over the last year. Further, the number of overall incidents is up 32% during the same timeframe.
According to cybersecurity firm Netwrix, 84% of organizations in the healthcare sector have spotted a breach within the last year, with phishing incidents topping the list. Of those, 74% of organizations reported a user or administrator account with cloud access was compromised. For organizations with onsite data centers, account compromise is a comparatively low 44%.
The report is based on survey responses from 1,309 IT and security professionals across a variety of industries. Across all sectors, phishing attacks are the most commonly reported method of data breach attempts, whether through disguised emails, sly text messages or other vectors.
For healthcare, the report notes, cyberattacks have taken a serious financial toll. According to Netwrix, 70% have suffered financial consequences as a result of a breach and 19% faced lawsuits. These numbers are the highest amongst all sectors surveyed.
“Healthcare workers regularly communicate with many people they do not know—patients, laboratory assistants, external auditors and more—so properly vetting every message is a huge burden. Plus, they do not realize how critical it is to be cautious, since security awareness training often takes a back seat to the urgent work of taking care of patients. Combined, these factors can lead to a higher rate of security incidents,” Dirk Schrader, VP of Security Research and Field CISO EMEA at Netwrix, says in the report.
The report from Netwrix is not limited to the U.S., as respondents represent 104 countries. The results are based on a comparison of historical data dating back to 2020.
The full report is available here.
Chad is an award-winning writer and editor with over 15 years of experience working in media. He has a decade-long professional background in healthcare, working as a writer and in public relations.