Hacking and Neglect Continue to Keep Healthcare in Danger

A cybercrime report released today by Beazley Breach Response (BBR) Services revealed that the healthcare industry had the highest number of reported incidents of any sector in 2018.

Healthcare entities made up 41 percent of the cybercrimes reported to BBR last year.

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The report showed that accidental disclosure and hack or malware both accounted for 31 percent of the healthcare incidents reported. In 2017, 43 percent of healthcare’s incidents were due to unintended disclosure, while 20 percent were due to hack or malware issues.

According to the findings, the increase in hack or malware and decrease in unintended disclosure is related to the 133 percent increase in business email compromises.

The findings of the report represent commonalities with a study released last November that found that healthcare system neglect is the top cause of data breaches.

Of the possible ways to commit a cybercrime, hack or malware and accidental disclosure ranked as the top two causes in every industry in the report except for incidents in the professional services industry. Hack or malware incidents made up 47 percent of the overall incidents in 2018, while accidental disclosure accounted for 20 percent.

Insiders made up 17 percent of the healthcare sector’s incidents reported to BBR last year and physical loss of a record comprised eight percent of the incidents.

Along with healthcare entities, the findings reflected incidents reported to BBR from higher education, financial services and professional services.

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