What Do You Know About IoT?

We recently discovered a lot of statistics regarding Internet of Things-focused cyber attacks that we felt was important to share. Especially considering how they relate to healthcare. Before reading, please keep in mind what IoT means.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.

• 82% of healthcare organizations have experienced an IoT-focused cyber attack.
• 8 out of 10 healthcare organizations have experienced an IoT cyber attack in the past year.
• 30% of the organizations attacked said the security incident compromised end-user safety.
• There are 10 to 15 million medical devices in US hospitals today with an average of 10 to 15 connected medical devices per patient bed, which poses significant cybersecurity risks.
• Healthcare security leaders ranked compromised customer data as their top concern as a result of a cyberattack (39%), followed by patient safety (20%) and stolen intellectual property (12%).
• Brand or reputational damage and operational downtime is another concern, with operational downtime (43%) being the most common impact of a cyberattack, followed by compromised customer data (42%) and brand or reputational damage (31%).
• The most prominent vulnerabilities within healthcare organizations exist within IT networks (50%), followed by mobile devices and accompanying apps (45%), and IoT devices (42%).
• Network security is no longer enough to prevent damage, with the average financial impact as a result of IoT focused cyberattacks averaging around $346,000.
• Microsoft support for devices running Windows 7, Windows 2008 or Windows Mobile is planned to expire by January 14,2020, which will result in 70% of devices in healthcare organizations running unsupported Windows operating systems, making organizations more targetable.

For these reasons, it is vital to make sure your clients have proper Cybersecurity Insurance. Hackers are looking to steal sensitive medical data, execute targeted attacks against care providers’ infrastructure and much more. Contact us today to make sure you are covered!