As healthcare data breaches are surging, so are ransom demands, with hackers asking for $4.6 million on average, according to an April 29 report published by BakerHostetler.
The report examines 1,250 data security incidents in 2020 to identify cybersecurity trends.
Seven reporting findings:
- Fifty-eight percent of data breaches were caused by network intrusion, displacing phishing (24 percent), which held the top spot for the five previous years.
- One in 5 data breaches were in the healthcare sector, compared to 23 percent in the education sector, 11 percent in manufacturing, 10 percent in finance and 10 percent in business services.
- The average initial ransom demanded in the healthcare industry by threat actors is $4,583,090.
- The largest ransom demand in 2020 for all sectors was more than $65 million, compared to $18 million in 2019.
- The largest ransom paid in 2020 for all sectors was $15 million, tripling the highest ransom payment of $5 million in 2019.
- The average ransom paid by healthcare companies was $910,335.
- The average number of individuals affected by a breach was 39,180.