Dramatic surge in healthcare cybersecurity breaches since 2015

A KPMG survey shows that 47% of healthcare payers and providers experienced security-related violations or cyber-attacks that compromised data in 2017, yet 87% rated their readiness to defend at four or better on a five-point scale.

Payers and providers must be in denial. That’s the only explanation for a group of more than 100 respondents from healthcare organizations of more than $500 million in annual revenue, 87 of whom said their organizations rated at least a four out of five in a gauge of organizational readiness to defend against a concerted cyber-attack. 35% rated their organizations as “completely ready” to defend against such attacks.

How can one rate his or her organization’s readiness so highly when 47% of those same respondents experienced security-related HIPAA violations or cyber-attacks that resulted in data loss or system compromise in the past 24 months? 

“Healthcare payers and providers are on treacherous ground here and some organizations are underestimating cyber-security risks,” KPMG Healthcare Advisory Leader Dion Sheidy said in a press release announcing the survey findings. “There needs to be a higher degree of vigilance among boards and executive suites as attacks become much more sophisticated, especially as doctors need to share information to improve quality and as connected medical devices and wearables proliferate. The WannaCry ransomware hack in May was a warning shot against our collective ability to protect patient safety and privacy.”

Source: HealthLeaders Media