Last year more than 300 million patient records were compromised as the direct result of data breaches. In fact, 2024 set a new record, with 26% more healthcare-affiliated entities reporting breaches than during 2023. This included the catastrophic cyberattack on United Healthcare subsidiary Change Healthcare, which affected more than 190 million people, and resulted in a $22 million ransomware payment.
As helpful as technology has certainly been in transforming the nation’s healthcare system, making it easier for patients to access treatment and for providers to manage critical records, the convenience is not risk-free. Namely, notes one leading medical journal, the healthcare industry has become “the main victim of external and internal attacks,” vulnerable to security lapses ranging from hacking/IT incidents to unauthorized internal disclosures to disaster-induced system outages. Read More >
