Data Breaches Cost $2.2 Million Per Event; Prevention Could Save Your Business

Data breaches cost the United States healthcare system $6.2 billion in 2016, according to a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services. Breaking the numbers down to the facility level over the entire survey period (2016–2018), HHS notes the average cost to each healthcare organization that experienced a breach was $2.2 million. If you haven’t been hit with a breach, consider yourself extremely lucky; roughly 80% of physicians have. HHS recommends taking precautions such as implementing email protection systems, along with access management and vulnerability management measures. For tips on keeping your urgent care systems secure, read Education Is Key to Avoiding Increasingly Sophisticated Cyber Crime in the JUCM archive. If you do experience a serious incident, HHS recommends contacting the closest FBI Field Office Cyber Task Force (www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field/fieldoffices) and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (www.ic3.gov), also reporting your concerns to the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (www.us-cert.gov/ncas).