Cencora Security Incident

Malware & Ransomware Protection Cencora Data Breach Demonstrates the Risks Facing Pharmaceutical Companies Written by: Sotero 5 min read Data breaches against pharmaceutical companies are slightly less common than many other industries. This infrequency, especially related to retail, healthcare, and financial services, does not make successful attacks any less damaging. In fact, pharmaceutical data breaches may be less common but they are on average far more costly than many other industries. The average cost of a data breach in pharmaceuticals was $4.82 million in 2023, according to IBMs Cost of a Data Breach report . This makes pharma breaches the third costliest, right behind healthcare at number 1 and financial services at number 2. The recent Cencora data breach is indicative of the type of damage in a pharmaceutical data breach. On February 21, 2024, Cencora, previously known as AmerisourceBergen, learned that data from its information systems had been exfiltrated, some of which may contain personal information, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission 8-K filing . This blog will examine the attack and offer guidance on how companies can defend themselves against data exfiltration now and in the future. Overview of the Attack Cencora, called AmerisourceBergen until August 2023, offers pharmaceutical services, such as drug distribution and solutions for doctors offices, pharmacies, and animal healthcare. The company had $262.2 billion in revenue for fiscal year 2023, with about 46,000 employees throughout its different divisions. There are scant details about the attack right now, but in a statement the company said there was no connection to the Optum/Change Healthcare ransomware attack from AlphV/Black Cat thats caused issues with pharmaceutical billing. In the SEC filing, Cencora said that it took immediate containment steps once it noticed the breach and is now working with outside cybersecurity experts and law enforcement to investigate...

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