IBM Security Incident

Healthcare breaches costliest for 12 years running, hit new $10.1M record high. Security 17 August 2022 8 min read Link copied Author Limor Kessem X-Force Cyber Crisis Management Global Lead IBM IBM Security and the Ponemon institute release an annual report known as one the most significant industry benchmarks. The Cost of a Data Breach analysis examines real-world breaches in great detail, producing insights into the factors that impact the cost of cyber-attacks. In the 2022 report just released, the healthcare sector stands out for extremely high breach costs on the global average chart. Furthermore, the sector has kept its leading position in that respect for the 12th year in a row, setting a new record of USD 10.10 million in average breach costs after rising nearly USD 1 million from the previous year. Here are some stats to consider in comparison: The global average of breaches across all sectors was USD 4.32 million The average ransomware attack costs organizations USD 4.54 million The average critical infrastructure attack came in at USD 4.82 million So, what is making healthcare breaches produce costs that are more than double what the rest of the industry loses to cyber-attacks of similar types? In this post, we unpack some of the factors that specifically impact the healthcare sector in that respect. Costly stats: More breaches, more records lost The number of breaches in the healthcare sector has been on a steady rise over the past decade. If breach numbers stood at double digits in 2009, by 2021, we are talking over 700 breaches in just one year. There has also been an increase in the number of records lost in each breach, especially with organizations working more digitally than ever. Over 90% of clinics and hospitals in the US have moved to EHRs and EHR platforms, often using several platforms across health systems, without necessarily following up with the required security. In some cases, cybercriminals were able to breach and dump entire EHR...

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