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New Ponemon Institute Study Finds that Cyberattacks Cause More Than Twenty Percent of Impacted Healthcare Organizations to Experience Increased Mortality RatesSUNNYVALE, Calif., Sept. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Proofpoint, Inc., a leading cybersecurity and compliance company, and Ponemon Institute, a top IT security research organization, today released the results of a new study on the effect of cybersecurity in healthcare. The report, “Cyber Insecurity in Healthcare: The Cost and Impact on Patient Safety and Care,” found that 89% of the surveyed organizations experienced an average of 43 attacks in the past 12 months, almost one attack per week. More than 20% of the organizations suffering the four most common types of attacks—cloud compromise, ransomware, supply chain, and business email compromise (BEC)/spoofing phishing—experienced increased patient mortality rates. This study, which surveyed 641 healthcare IT and security practitioners, found that the most common consequences of attacks are delayed procedures and tests, resulting in poor patient outcomes for 57% of the healthcare providers and increased complications from medical procedures for nearly half of them. The type of attack most likely to have a negative impact on patient care is ransomware, leading to procedure or test delays in 64% of the organizations and longer patient stays for 59% of them. “The attacks we analyzed put a significant strain on healthcare organizations’ resources. Their result is not only tremendous cost but also a direct impact on patient care, endangering people’s safety and wellbeing,” said Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute. “Most of the IT and security professionals regard their organizations as vulnerable to these attacks, and two-thirds believe that technologies such as cloud, mobile, big data, and the Internet of Things—which are all seeing increased adoption—further increase the risks to patient data and safety.” Other key findings of the report are that:
“Healthcare has traditionally fallen behind other sectors in addressing vulnerabilities to the growing number of cybersecurity attacks, and this inaction has a direct negative impact on patients’ safety and wellbeing,” said Ryan Witt, healthcare cybersecurity leader, Proofpoint. “As long as cybersecurity remains a low priority, healthcare providers will continue to endanger their patients. To avoid devastating consequences, healthcare organizations must understand how cybersecurity affects their patient care and take the steps toward better preparedness that protects people and defends data.” To download Cyber Insecurity in Healthcare: The Cost and Impact on Patient Safety and Care, please visit: For more information on Proofpoint’s healthcare solutions, please visit: https://www.proofpoint.com/us/solutions/healthcare-information-security About Proofpoint, Inc. Proofpoint, Inc. is a leading cybersecurity and compliance company that protects organizations’ greatest assets and biggest risks: their people. With an integrated suite of cloud-based solutions, Proofpoint helps companies around the world stop targeted threats, safeguard their data, and make their users more resilient against cyber attacks. Leading organizations of all sizes, including 75 percent of the Fortune 100, rely on Proofpoint for people-centric security and compliance solutions that mitigate their most critical risks across email, the cloud, social media, and the web. More information is available at www.proofpoint.com. Connect with Proofpoint: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube Proofpoint is a registered trademark or tradename of Proofpoint, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners. PROOFPOINT MEDIA CONTACT: |