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INTELLIGENT VERTICAL: HEALTHCARE
CYBERCRIMINALS
SET SIGHTS ON
HEALTHCARE
Cybercriminals have set their sights on protected health information. It’s Black
Market value is greater than credit card information. Brandon Bekker, Managing
Director at Mimecast, Africa and the Middle East, explains why and how the
healthcare sector is under attack.
T
he Internet of Things has
transformed the healthcare sector,
allowing practitioners to easily
share information and deliver personalised
treatments. Yet many experts in the security
industry believe that of all the industries
facing serious cyber threats, healthcare
is possibly the most at risk. That’s
because relatively speaking, healthcare
organisations are still behind when it comes
to security defences.
It’s also well-documented that external
attackers have set their sights on protected
health information (PHI). The value of
medical records on the black market is at
least 10X higher than credit card data.
www.intelligentcio.com
Why? PHI contains more personal data
points and cannot just be reissued in the
event of a problem. Bank account details
and passwords can be changed following
a breach; but information about allergies,
disabilities, mental health or hereditary
conditions, can’t. So securing this data and a
healthcare institution from these calculated
threats should be a top priority.
The nature of healthcare, requires that
organisations within this sector keep highly
sensitive patient data on file. Doctors need
to have this information to make informed
decisions about patients, and the ability
to easily share this information within a
healthcare network, has resulted in significant
“
HEALTHCARE
IS THE ONLY
INDUSTRY WHERE
EMPLOYEES
ARE THE
PREDOMINANT
THREAT OF A
BREACH.
INTELLIGENTCIO
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