More Than 40 Million People Had Their Health Information Leaked In 2022

When cybercriminals launch attacks on health institutions, it puts in danger not only the organization but also patient lives.

According to the recent Atlas VPN team findings, over 40 million people had health information leaked in the United States in 2021 alone. Furthermore, the number of data breaches and patients affected by them has spiked tremendously.

In May 2021, 6.5 million people were affected by 50 breaches in health organizations. 20/20 EyeCare Network reported a significant compromise in May, leaking over 3 million people’s social security numbers, date of birth, and health insurance information.

In January, hackers stole information of nearly 5.8 million people throughout 29 breaches. Florida Healthy Kids Corporation suffered the biggest data breach of the year (in health organization context), which allegedly affected about 3.5 million people after a cyberattack on its web-hosting platform.

In July, 5.6 million people’s data was compromised by cybercriminals throughout 64 breaches. In the same month, Forefront Dermatology reported about their data breach, which may have exposed more than 2.4 million patient and employee records.

Throughout August, another 40 breaches occurred, affecting 5.1 million people.

Cybersecurity writer at Atlas VPN Vilius Kardelis shares his thoughts on cyberattacks against the healthcare industry:

“Healthcare institutions have not prioritized cybersecurity because many of them lack the financial resources to do so. However, as more cyberattacks are being launched at hospitals, they are starting to make changes. Healthcare organizations need to take their cybersecurity to the next level, as keeping patient data safe is their responsibility.”

Worrying Uprise of Cyberattacks

Health institutions are very lucrative targets for hackers as such organizations store an incredible amount of personal patient data.

In 2020, 15.1 million people suffered from health organization data breaches in the United States. In 2021, this number surged by 177% to the heights of 42 million victims.

The total number of compromises against health organizations also increased significantly from 257 data compromises in 2020 to a staggering 587 in 2021, a 128% increase.

To read the full article, head over to:
https://atlasvpn.com/blog/more-than-40-million-people-had-their-health-information-leaked-in-2021