Over Half of the Largest Hospitals and Health Systems in the U.S. Had a Recent Data Breach

The Business Digital Index (BDI) released by Cybernews reported that 65 of the 100 major hospitals in the U.S. and health systems have had a recent data breach.

Additionally, as shared by Morningstar, the report scores the cybersecurity efforts of 79 of these organizations with a D or lower, with 30% having critical issues to be fixed.

Even more scary is how 98% of the hospitals and health systems have experienced at least one data breach in their lifetime.

The health sector as a whole got an average security score of 72 (out of 100), which is considered high risk according to the report. This means that the health data of Americans is in danger of being stolen. It’s not a question of if, but when.

Unfortunately, safeguarding your health data is not only in your hands.

Hospitals and healthcare providers need to have access to your sensitive information. If they are breached, your data may end up in cybercriminals’ hands, and there’s nothing you can do. Or is there?

Although you can’t improve the security of the businesses you give your information to, there are a few steps you can take to mitigate the issues if your health data gets leaked:

It’s a scary world that we’re living in. Now, more than ever, it’s essential that we take care of our online security and privacy.

Before working with a company, make sure to check and ask about the cybersecurity policies in place. If you don’t feel 100% secure, it’s better to take your business elsewhere.