![]() ![]() The fact that health care hackings are becoming more common is quite concerning and reinforces the urgent need for health care organizations to continue maturing and expanding their cybersecurity programs. "It's a little weird to think" ( CBS News, 2/14 Humer/Finkle, Reuters, 9/24/14 Yao, Forbes, 4/14/17 Storm, Computerworld, 6/27/16) Advisory Board's takeĪllyson Vicars, Consultant, Health Care IT Advisor "That hospital may still have his information, his blood type under my name at that hospital," Reagin said. But 15 years later, Reagin said he still hasn't been able to undo all of the damage-including to the integrity of his own medical files. The person who stole Reagin's identity served time in prison. "It was quite a tumultuous decade of a mess," he said. Reagin said he was able to get the charges scrubbed from his credit report, "until the next billing cycle." Then the process would start all over again. The person who accessed Reagin's personal information used it to steal cars and rack up $20,000 worth of medical procedures. What happens to the patientsĪnd what happens to patients whose identities are stolen? According to Brandon Reagin, a victim of medical record theft, it's a "mess." But after the case gained notoriety, the hacker tried instead to ransom the unsold records back to the health care organizations. One hacker, who went by "thedarkeroverlord," was selling 655,000 medical records stolen from three health care organizations for almost $700,000 on the darknet. In some cases, hackers go to extreme lengths to get money for the records as quickly as possible, Computerworld reports. By comparison, Social Security numbers and credit card information usually sell for $1 and up to $110, respectively. According to Experian, a patient's full medical records can sell for up to $1,000. Paint a picture of a cyber-resilient organizationĪnd the records can carry hefty price tags, CBS News reports. According to CBS News, one individual was selling children's health records stolen from a pediatrician between 20 under the name "USA KIDS FULLZ." It took cybersecurity expert Gary Miliefsky only seconds to find stolen health records online. According to Reuters, buyers might use the information to create fake IDs to purchase medical equipment or drugs, or to file a false insurance claim. "Sometimes they're compromising this data and we don't know how it's being used, when or if it will be used to compromise those individuals' identities," he said.īut increasingly, hackers are selling the information for profit on the black market. ![]() ![]() "Hospitals have low security," according to cybersecurity expert Dave Kennedy, "so it's relatively easy for these hackers to get a large amount of personal data for medical fraud." How hackers sell medical records on the darknetīut once hackers get their hands on a medical file, what do they actually do with it? Hackers also hone in on medical records because hospitals and health care organizations are often easy to hack, Reuters reports. Gary Cantrell, head of investigations at the HHS Office of Inspector General, said hackers tend to steal medical records because they are like "a treasure trove of all this information about you." They contain a patient's full name, address history, financial information, and social security numbers-which is enough information for hackers to take out a loan or set up a line of credit under patients' names, according to Computerworld. Cybersecurity firm Protenus tracked just 222 health care data hackings in 2018-and said that figure was up 25% since 2017. Last year, HHS' Office of Inspector General investigated nearly 400 reports of medical data breaches. 10 ways to become a cybersecurity sentinel Why hackers love medical records ![]()
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