Health data breach impact spikes

Individual patient records impacted by data breaches totaled 28.5 million during the last six months of 2022, the highest on record, compared with 21.1 million in 2019, even though the number of breaches declined between the first and second halves of 2022, HealthITSecurity reports. Most healthcare data breaches were due to hacking, followed by unauthorized data access, theft, loss, and improper data disposal practices, according to a report from Critical Insight. The findings also associated unauthorized data access with the highest number of record exposures per breach, with the increase attributed to three major breaches during the past year, which impacted 5.9 million patients. "Now is a good time for healthcare companies to make sure they are focusing on preparation, detection, and incident response. Companies seeking to improve their cybersecurity posture can do so by building capability internally, or by working with a partner who can provide expert cybersecurity staff and services," said the report.