Cyberattackers are turning their attention to smaller hospital systems and specialty clinics. While larger providers and payers have the most data, smaller ones have lower levels of security preparedness, staff size and budget for sophisticated defenses, according to cybersecurity firm Critical Insight in its H1 2022 Healthcare Data Breach Report. And while total attacks are declining, the … [Read more...]
Three-quarters of infusion pumps vulnerable to cyberattacks
Three-quarters of infusion pumps have security flaws that make them more vulnerable to cyberattacks. In addition, 52% are susceptible to two risks disclosed in 2019, with one ranked as critically severe and the other as highly severe. This is what Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42, a team of security analysts that research cyberthreats, found when analyzing more than 200,000 pumps on the networks of … [Read more...]
Cyberattackers eying small providers as easy victims
Cyberattackers are shifting their focus more toward smaller healthcare providers, seeing them as easy targets. Outpatient facilities, including family medicine and specialty clinics, were targeted almost as often as hospitals in the first half of 2021, while business associates like claims processors accounted for 43% of all healthcare breaches, according to a report by cybersecurity firm … [Read more...]
Number of individuals affected by healthcare data breaches rises 185%
Only seven months into 2021 and more than 22.8 million people have fallen victim to healthcare data breaches. This is a 185% increase from the same time last year, when just 7.9 million patients were affected. In addition, the number of reported breaches to the HHS increased 27% year-over-year during the first six months of 2021, with providers out of all healthcare entities experiencing the … [Read more...]
Why Providers Must Prepare for a Ransomware Attack
The COVID-19 pandemic has made the healthcare industry even more vulnerable to ransomware attacks. As COVID-19 hit, so too did ransomware. In the United States, an attack hit at least 26 healthcare providers between January and May. Most notable was a malware attack on the University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine that cost a $1.14-million ransom. Additionally, … [Read more...]