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Medical Identity Theft: The Next Wave in Cybercrime

By Todd Weller, VP, Corporate Development, Hexis Cyber Solutions

The digitization of patient records has unlocked a vast potential for efficiency in both business
processes and treatment in the healthcare industry.
Those operational benefits have not, however, come
without their risks.

As it becomes more difficult for hackers to penetrate
networks of financial institutions due to industry-wide
improvements to cybersecurity standards, they're
turning to other verticals with less stringent
frameworks surrounding network security.

Specifically, hackers are going after identity data
stored in healthcare networks. Names, addresses,
Social Security numbers, health records - all of these
can form a plentiful bounty for enterprising cybercriminals.

The recent attack on Anthem Healthcare and its network is a prime example. Personal
information (including medical identification and social security numbers) of approximately 80
million health insurance customers was compromised, making it likely the biggest data breach
ever in the healthcare industry

Data shows that we can likely expect more attacks like this to occur on other healthcare
organizations.

In a study sponsored by the Medical Identity Fraud Alliance that surveyed nearly 50,000
individuals across the United States, the Ponemon Institute found that the rate of medical
identity theft has almost doubled since 2009, and in 2014, there were nearly 500,000 more
incidences of such thefts than in 2013. Thieves most commonly used the stolen credentials to
obtain healthcare services or treatments, to obtain prescription pharmaceuticals or medical
equipment or to receive government benefits, including Medicare or Medicaid.

Healthcare providers are well-aware of the costs they can incur for noncompliance with various
data protection and reporting standards, but they’re not the only ones who end up paying for
identity theft.

The Ponemon study found that in 2014, medical identity theft victims paid an average of
$13,000 in various fees for cleaning up the mess left behind by the loss of their data.

19 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – March 2015 Edition
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