Cyber Security Breaches Cost Hospitals $1.6B Annually

Published: February 4, 2014

Hospitals nationwide can expect to spend an average of $810,000 per security breach, according to a new report.

The study, conducted by MeriTalk, a public-private organization seeking to improve government information technology, notes that security incidents at hospitals in the United States can cost up to $1.6 billion annually.

Of the hospitals surveyed, 61% reported a security related incident in the form of a security breach, data loss or unplanned downtime, Healthcare Finance News reports.

The majority of security breaches (58%) result from malware and viruses. Outsider attacks follow behind at 42%, while physical security, which includes equipment loss or theft, accounts for 38%.

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Other findings include:

  • 82% of respondents said their technology infrastructure is not fully prepared for a disaster recovery event
  • The biggest culprits of data loss are hardware failure, loss of power and loss of backup power
  • Only 32% of respondents said they were moving forward with security analytics to help with breach prevention

Only a small number of healthcare organizations noted that they were taking steps to prepare and prevent security breaches. For example, only 42% plan to move forward with encryption initiatives, while 44% are looking into getting single sign-on and authentication for Web-based applications and portals.

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