The past year has witnessed a boom in health-care-related hacking attacks and data breaches, and the FBI’s recent alert shows the agency is aware that the health-care industry is especially vulnerable to cybercrimes, Melissa Jampol, a health-care attorney with Epstein Becker & Green in New York, told Bloomberg BNA April 14. …
“Oftentimes, health-care entities are reluctant to come forward to the FBI and report cybercrimes, as they are more used to being the target of government investigations and actions, whether administrative, civil or criminal, rather than being crime victims,” Jampol said.
The rise in health-care hacking is partly due to the prevalence of electronic health records, which have replaced paper records that used to be stored in a doctor's office, Jampol said.
Additionally, the portability of patient records has increased the opportunity for cybercriminals to hack into the data, Jampol said.
Hacking is unlikely to stop, so the FBI and health-care companies need to work “proactively, creatively and comprehensively” to protect health-care data, Jampol said.