Security News > 2022 > January > Broward Breach Highlights Healthcare Supply-Chain Problems

This week's announcement by Florida's Broward Health System that the most intimate medical data of 1,357,879 of its patients was breached in the fall should serve as a warning that the healthcare software supply chain will be a juicy target for cybercriminals as we head into 2022, researchers warn.

As startling as the number of impacted Broward patients may seem, Ron Bradley, vice president of Shared Assessments calls this breach, "Just a drop in the proverbial bucket related to healthcare losses in 2021.".

Even the simplest apps used in a healthcare setting can result in patient data exposure: Kaspersky found last month that 30 percent of healthcare providers reported instances where employees compromised patient data during remote consultations, often simply because the apps used for telehealth like FaceTime, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Zoom and others weren't built with patient privacy in mind.

"According to Broward Health, the breach occurred from a third-party service provider authorized to access Broward Health systems," Bradley added.

Regarding Broward Health, David Strauss, co-founder and CTO of Pantheon told Threatpost that the fact that the October breach didn't impact patient care is good news.

In general, IT security teams across the healthcare sector should take a hard look at the software supply chain, he added.

News URL

https://threatpost.com/broward-breach-healthcare-supply-chain/177401/