1 in 3 healthcare organizations have suffered a cyberattack, 1 in 10 paid ransom: 6 things to know

Julie Spitzer -

The vast majority (77 percent) of healthcare IT professionals are very concerned about a cyberattack striking their organization, according to a recent survey commissioned by Imperva, a cybersecurity firm.

The survey asked 102 health IT leaders at the 2018 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Conference in March about their fears, concerns and plans for cybersecurity.

Here are six survey insights.

1. Thirty-eight percent of respondents said their organizations suffered a cyberattack in the past year.

2. Nearly one in 10 organizations have paid a ransom or extortion fee after a cyberattack in the past year.

3. Just 32 percent of respondents feel their organization's ability to handle a cyberattack is "adequate," and 33 percent said it is "above average." Six percent admitted the organization's cybersecurity plan "needs an overhaul."

4. Respondents are most concerned about ransomware (32 percent), insider threats (25 percent) and compromised applications (19 percent).

5. Most respondents (73 percent) indicated their organization employs a senior information security leader or chief information security officer, and  14 percent said their organization is planning to hire one in the next 12 months.

6. Here is what respondents said makes detecting threats so difficult.

  • A lack of tools to monitor employee and other insiders' activities (27 percent)
  • A lack of staff to analyze permissions data on employee access (25 percent)
  • More company assets stored on the network or cloud (24 percent)
  • More employees, contractors, business partners have access to our network (24 percent)

Click here to view the full report.

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