IBM’s latest research with Ponemon reveals that the average price to pay for a breach in the healthcare industry has reached $10.10 million.
The latest study ‘Cost of a Data Breach Report 2022’ from the technology and research companies “explores the leading contributors to higher data breach costs viewed through the lens of sectors and geographical regions, and details measures organizations can take to minimize their security breach risks.”
It finds that while the average total cost of a data breach across all industries is $4.35 million, healthcare charges ahead with the highest average data breach cost of any industry for the 12th consecutive year.
Its findings are based on 550 breaches across 17 countries and 17 industries with data gathered from over 3,600 interviews.
Healthcare Under Attack
The report follows a number of recent cyber-attacks on healthcare organisations across the globe. In August, a cyber-attack on the NHS 111 service caused an outage covering the software used to refer patients, dispatch ambulances, book out-of-hour appointments and order emergency prescriptions. Almost two months later, an NHS trust was still reporting disruption to booking appointments and overspending.
Moving into the Autumn and Winter, the NHS Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard has already shared concerns over the pressure the NHS will face and revealed the service has “begun planning for the coming winter earlier than usual, recognising pressure on the NHS is likely to be substantial.”
Meanwhile, Midlands-based housing association Bromford was forced to shut down its communication and booking systems after what the CIO Dan Goodall described as a “malicious attempt.”
Meanwhile, UK ready-meal supplier Wiltshire Farm Foods announced it has been the victim of a cyberattack in July. The company suffered difficulties with its IT systems which created difficulties with delivery. The firm is responsible for running the ‘meals on wheels’ program for multiple local areas, which provides food to the elderly and vulnerable.
With the significant growth of monetary losses, and the worrying escalation of recent attacks, the report raises the question of the cost of cybersecurity attacks beyond just facts and figures.
A separate global report from cybersecurity solution provider Fortinet published in April could shed some light on why attack and impact numbers are growing.
According to the research, 60% of respondents admitted they were struggling to recruit cybersecurity talent and significantly, 67% of respondents agreed that the shortage of qualified cybersecurity candidates created additional risks for their organisations.
The skills gap is undoubtedly a big concern for organisations that are very keen to keep themselves protected. With companies desperate to recruit, salaries and incentives are going up and organisations are competing for the qualified. In fact, 52% of respondents were struggling to retain experts.
Without the right people or protection, the numbers are only heading one way.