2016 has been a year jam-packed with cyber-attacks on the healthcare industry. According to a comprehensive report by TrapX Labs, cyber-attackers are now responsible for 31.42% of all major HIPAA data breaches reported in 2016 – a 300% increase over the last three years alone.
Per Moshe Ben Simon, co-founder and Vice President of TrapX Security, “The 2016 data indicates that the continued wave of cyber-attacks impacting health care institutions in the United States continues to grow. Our research indicates that major healthcare cyber-attacks reported in 2016 increased by 39%, to a total of 93 major attacks. This is an increase from 36 major attacks in 2016.
In context, sophisticated cyber attackers are now responsible for 31% of all major HIPAA data breaches reported in 2016. This is an increase of approximately 300% over three years. In 2014, cyber-attackers were responsible for 10% of the total major data breaches, and this increased in 2015 to 21%.”
One of the largest cyber-attacks reported in 2016 happened on August 3rd to Banner Health. The Banner Health Attack started on systems that process credit card data for food and beverages at various Banner Health locations. The cyber-attackers then found their way to other servers where they could obtain patient healthcare records. Overall, approximately 3,620,000 patient records were breached.
As 2016 comes to an end, healthcare remains a major target for cyber-attackers. TrapX recommends hospital staff review budgets and cyber-defense initiatives at the organizational board level. In addition, they recommend bringing in new technologies that can identify attackers that have already penetrated their networks.
At AccuShred, we take HIPAA seriously. We help medical facilities maintain HIPAA compliance by providing secure containers for the storage of PHI and then destroy that personal health information on your behalf.
Per Dr. Magnus A. Wilson, DDS of Cambridge Dental Group, “In this day and age of maintaining HIPAA compliance, I would recommend AccuShred to any dental professional wishing to dispose of his or her patient files securely.”