Healthcare Data Breaches Account for the Most Hacks in 2015

Though it has become all-too-common to read about yet another massive data breach or "hack" that a large corporation has become the victim of, diving deeper into this new trend will reveal information that will surprise many. Even though large-scale hacks of organizations like Sony Pictures International or Experian may be making headlines, they are not representative of the true focus of these incidents. According to recently revealed information from the Breach Level Index, it is actually the healthcare industry that is the primary target for hackers and other cyber criminals with malicious intentions around the world.

The Results of Healthcare Data Breaches

The Breach Level Index reports that in the first half of 2015 alone, there were 187 different breaches across the healthcare industry. Not only was this number significantly higher than any other industry, but it actually made up a full 21% of all data breaches that took place during this period of time.

To put these numbers in a different perspective, they represent the breach of 84.4 million records in the healthcare industry. That number is 34% of the total number of records that industry itself creates and uses each year.

By far the largest data breach in 2015 to affect the healthcare industry (or any industry in general) was the one that struck Anthem in February. 78.8 million records were exposed, which represents a full one-third of all records that were compromised up to that point.

Industry analysts agree that the reason the healthcare industry is such a prime target for hackers is because the return on investment for these data breaches is so high. Even less sophisticated attacks are able to expose treasure troves of data, all of which can be used to steal a person's identity, purchase expensive medical equipment that can then be resold at a premium on the black market and more.

John Hart, vice president and chief technology officer for Gemalto, indicated that the average healthcare industry data breach for the first six months of 2015 saw the exposure of more than 450,000 patient records. When you compare that number to the same statistic for the first half of 2014, it represents a troubling increase of more than 200 percent. The total number of healthcare industry data breaches, in general, increased 41 percent over 2014.

What is the root cause of these types of data breaches across the healthcare industry? According to the Breach Level Index, people outside an organization were the leading source of troubles and were responsible for 62 percent of all incidents. Standard identity theft continues to be the most common type of issue to arise from these breaches and occurs no less than 75 percent of the time.