Human Error a Key Cause of Cybersecurity Incidents, Study Finds

The vast amount of personal information held within the healthcare industry makes it a prime and profitable target for criminals.

As cyberattacks persist, how employees handle technology is crucial to preventing new security incidents.

A new report aimed at gauging the privacy and security awareness of healthcare employees found there’s room for improvement.

Among the findings in the 2017 State of Privacy and Security Awareness Report half of physicians scored in the “risk” category, meaning their actions could put their organizations at serious threat of a privacy or security incident.

Other findings in the report included:

• Healthcare workers showed less knowledge about security and privacy best practices than the general population.
• 24 percent of physicians showed a lack of awareness on phishing emails, compared to 8 percent of non-provider workers, such as office workers.
• 24 percent of healthcare employees had trouble identifying common malware signs.

“The results of our survey show that more work needs to be done in this regard. HIPAA courses often do not include information on how to stay cyber-secure in an increasingly interconnected world,” the report said.

Read more of the Privacy and Security Awareness Report here.