There were 46 healthcare breaches disclosed in September, up from 33 breaches in August, according to a Protenus report.
The report, which is part of the "Protenus Breach Barometer" monthly series, analyzes healthcare breaches reported to HHS or disclosed to the media during September 2017.
Here are five insights into the healthcare breaches disclosed last month.
1. Protenus determined 499,144 patient records were accessed during 42 of the 46 breaches disclosed in September.
2. The largest breach incident disclosed in September occurred at a surgery center in Arkansas and involved 128,000 patient records. The breach was the result of a hacking incident involving ransomware.
3. Hacking incidents accounted for 50 percent of the breaches disclosed in September, encompassing 401,741 patient records — or 80 percent — of affected patient records.
4. Of the 23 hacking incidents disclosed last month, Protenus determined eight related to extortion attempts, seven related to phishing and one related to ransomware.
5. The second most-common type of breach incident — responsible for 32.6 percent of those disclosed in September — related to insiders. Six incidents of insider error compromised 24,958 patient records, while eight incidents of insider wrongdoing compromised 47,887.
To access the full report, click here.