The January, 2024 meeting of Health TechNet was held by Teams link on Friday, January 19.
At this meeting, we focused on "Building a Culture of Cyber Deterrence." Our speakers were Richard Singerman and Joyce Hunter.
“Last year was a particularly bad year for healthcare ransomware attacks. According to an analysis by the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft, 46 hospital systems suffered ransomware attacks in 2023, up from 25 in 2022 and 27 in 2021. Across those 46 attacks, at least 141 hospitals were directly affected and experienced disruption due to the lack of access to IT systems and patient data...These attacks naturally have a significant financial impact. According to the Verizon Cost of a Data Breach Report, the average cost of a healthcare data breach increased to its highest ever level in 2023, costing an average of $11 million, a 53% increase since 2020. Emsisoft said 32 of the 46 attacks on health systems resulted in sensitive data, including protected health information, being stolen.” (Steve Alder, Jan 4, 2024, The HIPAA Journal).