The requirement to protect sensitive data in the healthcare field from unauthorized access has never been greater. Sensitive data in the healthcare field can consist of patient data such as protected health information (PHI), stored data like medical as well as payment records, payer and provider employee data, data in the container environments, and data which is related to wired as well as wireless IoT (Internet of Things) medical devices which are ubiquitous in all the healthcare environments.
Securely storing sensitive data has become the first priority nowadays under the ley de protección de datos sanitarios. The volume of this kind of data usually continues to increase at a very fast pace. This is the reason why healthcare organizations need increasingly larger data stores to house all of their collected data and greater protection for that data as well.
But some of the healthcare organizations are not always fully prepared for managing as well as protecting their big data. That is because the IT departments within different healthcare organizations often lack the budget that is essential to bolster big data security. Thus, this puts them at high risk.
Data Breaches
Data breaches such as the one which exposed nearly about 38 million Anthem Health Insurance patient records are now becoming increasingly common day by day. The healthcare industry has basically the highest risk factor whenever it comes to experiencing a data breach. In one of the recent studies, healthcare organizations had about 60% higher costs which are associated with data breaches as compared to other kinds of industries.
Healthcare records are also considered very highly valuable to some of the cyber-attackers. This is basically because of the richness of all personal, medical, and financial information that is contained within each of the EHR. Data thieves can usually resell all of this information on the dark web.