Author: Ernesto Fierro
Healthcare Data Breach has become a topic with financial and consumer implications. Data breach in healthcare can bring on a number of issues that can directly affect a companies’ customer retention, and associated costs. For example, one journal stated that there have been 2,181 healthcare incidents involving data breach between 2009 and 2017. Unfortunately, cyber issues involving data results in out-of-pocket spending for consumers. As a result, its important to understand what exactly data breaches are. In addition, it’s vital that companies develop security measurements to deal with them.
Data Breach Facts
To begin with, the question arises as to what exactly a Data Breach is. According to privacy rights, a data breach involves a security violation where confidential information is either stolen, transmitted, or viewed. In either case, a data breach can take on many forms of security violation. These include
- Hacking (Unauthorized access to a network)
- Stealing of credit card information
- Online posting of sensitive information
It’s important to note that the implications of data breaches go beyond company implications. Unfortunately, consumers have fallen victim to data breach. For example, a research journal found that consumer medical information is a primary target for cyber attackers. The reason being that cyber attackers can use medical information for identify theft and extortion purposes. As a result, healthcare consumers suffer not only medical identity theft, but also out-of-pocket expenses. As a result of increasing number of consumers in the healthcare industry, protection methods are vital.
Protection Methods
Fortunately, healthcare companies have developed effective security methods to detect forms of unauthorized access. Depending on the form of data breach, healthcare companies can implement technical strategies to combat this issue. For example, one method involves the use of encryption which relies on complex algorithms to hide user information. Healthcare companies have increasingly relied on forms of cryptography to protect electronic health information. To learn more about encryption and healthcare data, visit techopedia. With healthcare becoming a favorable target for cyber criminals, companies must continue to implement and adapt security measures.
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References
Healthcare Data Breach Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.hipaajournal.com/healthcare-data-breach-statistics/
What To Do When You Receive a Breach Notice. (2018, April 26). Retrieved from https://www.privacyrights.org/consumer-guides/what-do-when-you-receive-data-breach-notice
Cybersecurity in Healthcare. (2016, August 19). https://content.iospress.com/download/technology-and-health-care/thc1263?id=technology-and-health-care%2Fthc1263
Health Care Data Encryption. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.techopedia.com/definition/25054/health-care-data-encryption
