The three biggest cyber threats to healthcare organizations are cyber espionage, data theft and destructive cyber attacks, a new FireEye report indicates. According to the study, threat actors are selling numerous compromised healthcare databases on underground forums, most of which costs less than $2,000. These databases contain the personally identifiable information (PII) and protected health information (PHI) of people in countries like the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and India.
Healthcare firms are being targeted by criminal actors as well as by state-backed hackers from China, Vietnam, Russia and other countries. The study singles out China for carrying out hacking campaigns that aim to steal cancer research data. Luke McNamara of FireEye believes that out of all state actors, China has “shown the most concerted interest in the space,” and that the country “by far makes up most of the activity.”
Read more: China is Spying on Cancer Research