Todd Shryock

An analysis of data from the US Department of Health and Human Services conducted by the security firm 

 that collectively affected more than 26 million people. The report resulted in 6 key findings.

Attacks are increasing each year.Since 2018, the number of hacking and IT incidents has increased. Last year, hacking was the top cause of breaches, leading to 403 and 599 breaches (67%).

Hacking is resulting in larger breaches.Hacking compromised 91.2% of all exposed health care records in 2020—24.1 million out of 26.4 million.

The cost of breaches is rising. The average cost per breached record increased from $429 in 2019 to $499 in 2020. Data breaches cost health care organizations $13.2 billion last year.

Hacking is not the only problem.The remaining breach categories—unauthorized disclosure of personal health information by internal parties or systems, loss of theft devices, and miscellaneous leaks—exposed the personal details of about 2.3 million people, exposing victims to identify theft, phishing, and other forms of cyberattacks.

Breach numbers are up everywhere. 37 of 50 states suffered more breaches in 2020 than they did in 2019. California had the most at 49, surpassing last year’s leader, Texas, which suffered 43 in 2020.

Recovery is slow.In 2020, the average health care firm took 236 days to recover from a breach. ❒

Articles

Hacking and security breaches are rising at an alarming rate.

Todd Shryock

Articles

6 Essential Facts About Cyber Security