A whopping 80 million people affected by the data breach at health insurer Anthem in February 2015. The month before, 11 million patient records compromised in the Premera BlueCross BlueShield breach. More recently, illegal access to another 10 million people’s protected health information occurred at Excellus BlueCross Blue Shield.
It’s perhaps no surprise that healthcare tops the list of industries compromised by security breaches in the first half of 2015, according to a report from Gemalto. As their Data Breach Infographic shows, 34% of the total reported breaches occurred in healthcare, followed by 31% affecting government files and 15% involving technology firm records.
Why is healthcare data a growing target? Part of the answer is money. According to Security Week, thieves and hackers make an average $363 on each compromised medical file. Given the extent of some of these security events, that could really add up.
What can a provider, physician practice or medical enterprise do to shore up their data security protections? There are multiple options, but here are three reasons you should consider cloud-based security provisions among your considerations:
1. Lower Cost
Handling data security on your own can cost more, especially when you try to match the protections at cloud data centers, including armed security guards and motion activated cameras.
2. More Protection
Most cloud-based companies partner with global web security firms to add more layers of protection for your data.
3. Greater Vigilance
Cloud security companies offer immediate and ongoing threat detection 24/7. Most medical practices do not have staff or resources to dedicate to round the clock security.
Cloud security vendors “allow healthcare providers to have the best security measures in the industry without the capital investment otherwise required. You can better use these resources to provide patient care,” says Josh Siegel, Chief Technology Officer at CareCloud.
