Around two-thirds of healthcare organizations around the world have experienced a cyberattack at least once, while 53 percent have responded to cyberthreats in the last 12 months, according to a Keeper Security report, released March 5.
In the 2019 Global State of Cybersecurity in Small and Medium-Sized Businesses report, Keeper Security teamed up with the Ponemon Institute to survey 2,391 IT and IT security practitioners across the globe.
"Electronic health records are some of the most lucrative documents on the dark web, so it's not surprising that the healthcare industry is highly-targeted by cybercriminals," said Darren Guccione, CEO and co-founder of Keeper Security. "While the majority of healthcare organizations have already experienced a cyberattack, this research shows the industry still doesn't have the necessary resources and budget allocated to preventing and responding to major data breaches."
Here are five things to know:
1. The average data breach results in more than 7,000 patient and employee records being lost or stolen. Along with the lost data, the average cost of a data breach is $1.8 million, which represents the disruption costs of normal operations.
2. Only one-third of healthcare organizations believe that they have a sufficient budget to support IT security. Additionally, 87 percent reported that their organizations don't have the personnel needed to achieve an effective cybersecurity position.
3. Sixty-six percent of healthcare organizations agreed that passwords are an important aspect of preventing cyberattacks. However, more than half don't have visibility into employee password practices.
4. Less than half of those surveyed said they have a plan for how to respond to a cyberattack.
5. Close to all (90 percent) healthcare organizations dedicated less than 20 percent of their IT budgets to cybersecurity, with an average of 13 percent allocated.