A new breach analysis from CI Security establishes that hackers are going after medical billing and insurance companies.
The numbers are not getting improved for healthcare systems trying to keep patient data out of hackers’ hands. According to a new analysis from CI Security, healthcare data breaches went up 36% in the second half of 2020. In the second half of the year, more than 21.3 million records were breached; an increase of 177% from nearly 7.7 million records breached in the first half of 2020.
The 2020 Healthcare Data Breach Report established that criminals worked all angles of the healthcare system, attacking life science and research labs, rehabilitation facilities, hospital systems, and healthcare organizations.
According to the report, hospitals prioritized patient care in the rush to react to the intense demands of the COVID-19 pandemic, sometimes at the cost of cyber security. The report found that the shift to remote work, employee churn, new sites of care and new vendor agreements all expanded equal security risks and the overall attack surface.
Healthcare companies also use Solar Winds software which opens them up to the same security risks faced by lucky 500 companies, the US military, government agencies, and universities affected by the attack on the company and its clients in 2020. The report notes that the regularity of daily ransom ware attacks increased 50% during the third quarter of 2020 as compared with the first half of the year.
CI Security analysts also found that cybercriminals are currently targeting third-party business associates who provide billing or insurance reimbursement services to healthcare organizations. The report authors said that the business associates made up 75% of all the records exposed in 2020. Also, 97% of the data breaches in the second half of the year were due to malicious hacking events, not unauthorized disclosure, theft, or loss.
The report also suggested that the health system use identity access management systems to make it easier to control and monitor employee use of data. This approach can moderate the flux in employees that hospitals have managed over the last 12 months. Hospitals brought on contract nurses and other employees to support surge operations while furloughing other workers due to financial constraints, according to the report.
Also, healthcare systems should review telehealth agreements to make sure these documents define as where data is stored, how it is protected, and who is responsible for each step in telehealth information management workflow.
At last, it’s a good idea to review every existing contractual agreement with business associates to inspect how financial and other liabilities are addressed. The report authors proposed that healthcare organizations push hard for language that spells out your need to gain insight into their cybersecurity processes and procedures, including certifications, risk mitigation, and incident reaction plans.
CI Security recommends healthcare organizations take some steps to protect sensitive data which includes conducting regular security assessments and penetration tests, Implementing intrusion detection and response capabilities and creating a strong incident response plan.
To assemble this report, CI Security analysts reviewed data from the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights Breach Portal on Jan. 11, 2021. The analysis covered data from the last 24 months and organized the information into four six-month periods which will be as 2019 First-half of the year (2019 H1), 2019 Second-half of the year (2019 H2), 2020 First-half of the year (2020 H1) and 2020 Second-half of the year (2020 H2).