Data breaches on the Colonial Pipeline and meat-processing company JBS have brought nationwide attention to cyberattacks. Yet 34 percent of data breaches are concentrated in the healthcare industry, according to a June 7 report by software company ForgeRock.
Three report findings:
- The U.S. experienced the highest costs from data breaches in the world in 2020, with the average breach costing $8.64 million and a total of 1.48 billion records exposed. The healthcare industry had the highest cost per compromised record at $474.
- Phishing accounted for 25 percent of all breaches, and ransomware accounted for 17 percent, a 7 percentage point increase from 2019. The healthcare sector was a primary target because hackers knew leaders would rather pay than put patients' lives at risk with disruption of service, the report said.
- The healthcare and financial sectors experienced the most reputational harm from data breaches, the report found.