CI Security recently released a new report detailing how hackers are increasingly targeting the healthcare industry. According to CI, the number of healthcare data breaches skyrocketed in the second half of 2020, up 36% from the first sixth months of the year. More than 21 million records were breached in the last six months of 2020, whereas 7.7 million were breached in the first. This represents an increase of 177%, according to CI.
The report found that hackers also reached all sectors of the healthcare system, seeking to breach life science and research labs, rehabilitation facilities, healthcare organizations, and hospital systems. At the beginning of 2020, hospitals were scrambling to prioritize Covid-19 patient care and ensure that they were adequately prepared for the onslaught of cases. The report found that the shift to remote work, new vendor agreements, and new sites of care opened up healthcare systems to more security risks and a broader overall attack surface, making cybercriminals’ jobs easier.
Read More: 177% increase: Hackers grabbed 21.3 million healthcare records in the second half of 2020
