Due to the extensive amount of information stored and the use of outdated software, hospitals and health systems have become larger targets for cybercriminals, according to a FireEye report and cited by the HIPAA Journal.
According to the report, cyberattacks are focused on obtaining patient data, including personally identifiable information and protected health information. If this data is acquired, hackers can commit financial fraud, medical identity theft, identity theft and phishing attacks.
Large health systems and other healthcare organizations store large sums of patient data. And these systems are using unsupported operating systems to store patient information, reports the HIPAA Journal. This mix makes hospitals and health systems the perfect target for hackers.
Additionally, hackers are targeting healthcare organizations to gain access to their networks. In one instance, a hacker obtained the domain administrations access to a network of 3,000 hosts. The access is being auctioned for between $9,000 and $20,000, the HIPAA Journal reports.