A 2014 study conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies identifies “cybercrime” as a growth industry with great ROI and low risks.  This booming industry can adversely impact the global economy by as much as $575 billion with the G20 countries carrying the bulk of the losses.  Rising demand for data, mobile usage and connectivity, fueled by the Internet of Things (IoT), $575 billion is barely the tip of the iceberg.
In the realm of cybercrime, the dark web offers multitude of platforms where cyber criminals can sell data for a hefty profit.  The questions now become:
  1. Which type of data is lucrative and Why?
  2.  Which industry or industries are most susceptible to cyber attacks? 
  3. Why are these industries vulnerable?

Which type of data is lucrative and Why:

Which: Jeremy Wagstaff in his report for Reuters dubbed medical data the “holy grail” for cybercriminals and valued it at 10 times more than credit card numbers.
According to INFOSEC institutes report, “Hackers Selling Healthcare Data in the Black Market”:

-       Each patient record can sell anywhere from $363 to $500, which is more than any other from any industry.  
-       In another example cited in the same report:  “A set of Medicare ID numbers for 10 beneficiaries found online by Greg Virign, CEO of the security company RedJack, was being sold for 22 bitcoins, or about $4,700.”
 
Why: Though there are many, I’ll highlight the ones from today’s vantage point:
  1. Longer Shelf Life: Unlike cancelling a credit card, medical record information cannot be simply unlinked.   
  2. Persona Creation:  Medial Records provide relational data such as dependents, next of kin, birthdays…etc.  A single data instance can allow the extrapolation and eventual distribution of multiple sets. 
Which industry or industries are most susceptible to cyber attacks?

In 2014, FBI released a warning to the healthcare sector for not having enough controls in place to secure the data.  In their second annual “Data Breach Industry Forecast” report for 2015, Experian placed healthcare sector 3rd on the list industries that have growing threats of being breached. 

INFOSEC in their report Hackers SellingHealthcare Data in the Black Market, clearly show a rising trend in the healthcare breaches:
Why are these industries vulnerable?

I am not going to harp on breach on Anthem Inc, though their breach exposed common set of vulnerabilities across healthcare segments.  

From a direct involvement in the healthcare segment, 67% of malware infecting the systems is due to aging IT hardware.  IoT coupled with remote patient monitoring will drastically increase the demand for medical device security.  HIPAA on the other hand provides guidelines, though no controls are in place to ensure violations are dealt with.

 Case ‘n point: Kaiser Permanent in 2014 reported a data breach, via an infected server, which was breached in 2011.  The infected servers, luckily did not include the Social Security Number (SSN).

How to Secure:

First and foremost, the data has to be secured at rest AND in motion.  Higher security protocols lessen the chances of data breaches.  As such, all points of interception must be secured.  This is inclusive of personal computers, data centers and peripheral devices…etc. 

Second and may be most important is to secure “personal access information” of employees.  A single access point can open a window of opportunities. 

If we consider the case of Anthem Inc, it was personal access information and personal computers provided a way for hackers to spoof the systems and gain access.
The healthcare organizations and regulators cannot afford for another incident to start the conversation, the time to act is now!