81% of healthcare organizations in the U.S. compromised by cyberattacks in the past two years: KPMG

Four-fifths of healthcare executives in the United States say that their organizations have been compromised by at least one malware, botnet or other cyberattack during the last two years, according to a survey from audit, tax and advisory firm KPMG LLP.

While 81% of survey respondents reported being compromised in the last two years, only half felt that they are adequately prepared in preventing attacks, according to the 2015 KPMG Healthcare Cybersecurity Survey. [click image below to enlarge]

In polling 223 chief information officers, chief technology officers, chief security officers and chief compliance officers at healthcare providers and payers, KPMG also found the number of attacks increasing, with 13% saying they are targeted by external hack attempts about once a day and another 12% seeing about two or more attacks per week. More concerning, 16% of healthcare organizations said they cannot detect in real-time if their systems are compromised.

“Apart from typical financial fraud, there is also the possibility of medical insurance fraud, or, in the case of providers, attacks on computer-controlled medical devices,” the report noted.

“The vulnerability of patient data at the nation’s health plans and approximately 5,000 hospitals is on the rise and healthcare executives are struggling to safeguard patient records,” said Michael Ebert, leader in KPMG’s Healthcare & Life Sciences Cyber Practice, in a statement. “Patient records are far more valuable than credit card information for people who plan to commit fraud, since the personal information cannot be easily changed. A key goal for execs is to advance their institutions’ protection to create hurdles for hackers.”

Greg Bell, who leads KPMG’s Cyber Practice, feels also that many organizations not seeing frequent cyberattacks may underestimate the threat. “Healthcare organizations that can effectively track the number of attempts have less cause for worry than those who may not detect all of the threats against their systems,” said Bell. “The experienced hackers that penetrate a vulnerable health care organization like to remain undetected as long as they can before extracting a great deal of content.”

When asked about readiness in the face of a cyberattack, 66% of executives at health plans said they were prepared, while only 53% of providers said they were ready. Larger organizations, in terms of revenue, are better prepared than smaller ones, the statement noted.

Top concerns for providers included regulatory enforcement (50%), litigation (45%), financial loss (44%), reputation (39%) and job security (6%). For payers, it was financial loss (57%), reputation (46%), litigation (38%), regulatory enforcement (35%) and job security (3%). [click image below to enlarge]

Malware, software designed to disrupt or gain access to private computer systems, is the most frequently reported line of attack during the past 12 to 24 months, according to 65% of survey respondents. Botnet attacks, where computers are hijacked to issue spam or attack other systems, and “internal” attack vectors, such as employees compromising security, were cited by 26% of respondents.

According to the survey, the areas with the greatest vulnerabilities within an organization include external attackers (65%), sharing data with third parties (48%), employee breaches (35%), wireless computing (35%) and inadequate firewalls (27%).