Healthcare organizations are in the cross hairs of cyber attackers

The State of Cybersecurity in Healthcare Organizations in 2016, sponsored by ESET, found that on average, healthcare organizations represented in this study have experienced almost one cyber attack per month over the past 12 months. Almost half (48 percent) of respondents say their organizations have experienced an incident involving the loss or exposure of patient information during this same period, but 26 percent of respondents are unsure.

The research reveals that healthcare organizations are struggling to deal with the same threats other industries face. According to 79 percent of respondents, system failures are the number one risk. The following threats are also considered serious: unsecure medical devices (77 percent of respondents), cyber attackers (77 percent of respondents), employee-owned mobile devices or BYOD (76 percent of respondents), identity thieves (73 percent of respondents) and mobile device insecurity (72 percent of respondents). Despite citing unsecure medical devices as a top security threat, only 27 percent of respondents say their organization has the security of medical device as part of their cybersecurity strategy.

With cyber attacks against healthcare organizations growing increasingly frequent and complex, there is more pressure to refine cybersecurity strategies. Moreover, healthcare organizations have a special duty to secure data and systems against cyber hacks. The misuse of patient information and system downtime can not only put sensitive and confidential information at risk but also put the lives of patients at risk as well.

We hope you will read the entire report.

Warmest regards,

Dr. Larry Ponemon