Cybercriminals target healthcare for higher returns: Raytheon-Websense report

NEW DELHI: Healthcare is becoming a major target for cybercriminals as medical information is 10 times more valuable in the black market, a report says.

According to the Raytheon-Websense Security Labs 2015 report, the healthcare industry sees 340 per cent more security incidents and attacks than the average industry.

"The proliferation of electronic health records creates a data-heavy environment, while networks comprising thousands of providers present an enormous attack surface," it added.

The report said one in every 600 attacks in the healthcare sector involves advanced malware.

Also, the sector is 74 per cent more likely to be impacted by phishing schemes as lack of effective security awareness training and employee security awareness programmes often compounds the danger of increased attempts, resulting in more security incidents.

Many health organisations lack budget and administrative, technical or organisational skills that are necessary to detect, mitigate and prevent cyber-attacks, advanced malware.

This presents a significant threat to healthcare infrastructure, the report said.

The rapid digitisation of the healthcare industry, when combined with the value of the data at hand, has lead to a massive increase in the number of targeted attacks against the sector, Raytheon-Websense principal security analyst Carl Leonard said.

"While the finance and retail sectors have long honed their cyber defences, our research illustrates that healthcare organisations must quickly advance their security posture to meet the challenges inherent in the digital economy - before it becomes the primary source of stolen personal information," he added.