More than 20% of healthcare organizations replace senior leadership after cyberattack: study

Diving overview:

According to a study by cybersecurity firm Netwrix, more than 80% of healthcare organizations detected a cyberattack on their technology infrastructure within the past year. Attacks often lead to economic losses for the industry. Nearly 70% of healthcare companies report financial losses due to cyberattacks, compared to 60% of other industries. Healthcare organizations also faced other consequences after the cyberattack. One in five said they experienced a change in senior leadership after the attack, and 19% reported filing a lawsuit.

Dive Insight:

Cyberattacks against healthcare organizations can severely impact healthcare delivery, slowing down services or forcing hospitals to send emergency cases to nearby facilities. But experts say medical data is extremely valuable to cybercriminals, making the sector a prime target for hackers.

However, the industry is also highly regulated, with increased penalties for non-compliance and potential lawsuits from those affected by cyber attacks, said Ilya Sotnikov, security strategist at Nettrix. mentioned in.

Additionally, he added, health care organizations could face increased pressure to change leadership in the wake of the attack to demonstrate a commitment to improving security. Protected health data beaches often contain sensitive information that attracts media and public attention.

According to the report, phishing, a scam in which criminals try to trick users into installing malware or divulging information such as login details, is a scam that is used by criminals to trick users into installing malware or divulging information such as login details. It is said to be the most common type of cyber attack targeting systems.

Meanwhile, nearly three-quarters of attacks on healthcare organizations' cloud infrastructure are caused by compromised user or administrator accounts.

“Healthcare workers regularly communicate with many people they don’t know, including patients, lab assistants, and external auditors, so properly vetting every message is a huge burden.” Nettrix Security Dirk Schrader, vice president of research, said in a statement. “Additionally, they don’t understand how important it is to pay attention because security awareness training often takes a backseat to the urgent task of caring for patients.”

The industry is heading into a challenging year for healthcare security. A massive cyber attack on Change Healthcare, a claims professor and technology company owned by United Health, compromised the data of 100 million people and cost the parent company $3.1 billion.

Another major attack on nonprofit healthcare system Ascension compromised information from 5.6 million people and resulted in a net loss of $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2024.