Several factors suggest the health care industry will continue to be plagued with data breach headlines,"
according to Experian's 2015 Data Breach Industry Forecast.
That forecast noted that the threat is so serious that the FBI released a private warning about it in 2014, warning, "the health care industry is not as resilient to cyber intrusions compared to the financial and retail sectors, therefore the possibility of increased cyber intrusions is likely," according to a notice it sent to health care providers,
obtained by Reuters.
Ad Statistics
Times Displayed: 174439
Times Visited: 3180 For those who need to move fast and expand clinical capabilities -- and would love new equipment -- the uCT 550 Advance offers a new fully configured 80-slice CT in up to 2 weeks with routine maintenance and parts and Software Upgrades for Life™ included.
Experian also advised that the bottom line for health care IT professionals was that:
"Health care organizations will need to step up their security posture and data breach preparedness or face the potential for scrutiny from federal regulators. Reported incidents may continue to rise as electronic medical records and consumer-generated data add vulnerability and complexity to security considerations for the industry.
"Where previously IT departments were responsible for explaining security incidents, cyber attacks have expanded from a tech problem to a corporate-wide issue. With this shift, business leaders are being held directly accountable for data breaches. Executives at the highest levels are under scrutiny about security posture and their response to a breach from stakeholders, regulators and consumers.
"Recent mega breaches have showcased the significant pressure for management teams to brush up on their knowledge on data breach preparedness or face the threat of being ousted from the company."
The report also advised that C-suite executives should expect a "rise in legal and regulatory scrutiny" and that the industry could be looking at a potential cost for breaches of as much as $5.6 billion annually.
There have been a number of IT breaches in the health care sector recently, which have highlighted that, unlike other large companies and industries, such as those in the financial sector, security is relatively vulnerable at many health care facilities despite the fact that they contain much sensitive data, including both personal and financial information.
“Fortune 500 companies get it when it comes to the level of security that needs to surround your company and the amount of money that you need to invest,” David Ellis, vice-president of investigations at SecurityMetrics, told The Guardian, adding that "health care industry security is all over the map.”
