A Ponemon Institute report published this month found that healthcare data breaches have risen 32 percent since 2010. Ninety-six percent of all healthcare providers say they have had at least one data breach in the last two years and that most of these were due to employee mistakes and sloppiness, while 46 percent of respondents cited third-party error, including business associates as the culprit.
Just this year we saw high-profile data breaches from Stanford Hospital, HealthNet and the University of Mississippi Medical Center, to name a few. All of these were the result of accidental misuse of employee privilege.
Many of these breaches likely could have been prevented if the right privilege identity management policies were in place, leading to less accidental or intentional misuse of privilege. Healthcare is something we all need, making us all potential victims of data breaches (and let’s face it, how many of us have actually already been victims), so it has never been more important for companies to take extra precautions to protect our data from insider threats.
As we look toward a new year, filled with healthy resolutions like getting in shape, eating more vegetables or getting more sleep, let’s not forget to make protecting sensitive data from accidental or intentional misuse a top priority.
