The last five years has seen a surge of attacks on the healthcare industry, with the largest breaches impacting as many as 80 million people. In July this year, it was revealed that 150,000 NHS patients’ data was shared over a three-year period following a major breach.

Over in the US, the 2015 cyber-attack on Anthem saw hackers steal 78.8 million patient records, claiming highly sensitive data, including names, social security numbers, home addresses and dates of birth.

Meanwhile, this year, hackers breached the Singapore government’s health database with a targeted cyber-attack, accessing the data of 1.5 million patients.

Healthcare organizations collect and store vast amounts of personal information, making them a major target for cyber-criminals. This valuable data can be used for identity theft, says Peter Carlisle, head of EMEA at cloud and data security company Thales eSecurity.“In the US, stolen personal health insurance information can be used by criminals to obtain expensive medical services, devices and prescription medications, as well as to fraudulently acquire government benefits like Medicare or Medicaid.”

Image Credit:   Alias Studio Sydney

Thanks to Dr. ir Johannes Drooghaag. Follow him on twitter:@DrJDrooghaag