14 Business View - May 2015
Opening
Lines
Vormetric, a leader in enterprise data security for phys-
ical, virtual, big data, public, private and hybrid cloud
environments, announced the healthcare-focused re-
sults of the 2015 Vormetric Insider Threat Report (ITR).
Key findings include that 92 percent of healthcare in-
formation technology (IT) decision makers reported
that their organizations are either somewhat or more
vulnerable to insider threats, and 49 percent felt very
or extremely vulnerable. Additionally, 62 percent of
respondents identified privileged users – those who
have access to all resources available from systems
they manage – as the most dangerous insider. Part-
ners with internal access and contractors ranked sec-
ond and third, respectively.
The survey was conducted online on behalf of Vormet-
ric by Harris Poll in fall 2014 and included responses
from 102 IT decision makers (ITDMs) in U.S. health-
care organizations, as well as 818 total ITDMs in the
U.S., U.K., Germany, Japan and the ASEAN region. The
healthcare research brief extends earlier findings in
the global report, retail and financial research briefs,
cloud and big data edition, and the Japan and ASEAN
edition with details on the impact of insider threats to
the U.S. healthcare industry.
Healthcare data has become highly desirable to bad
actors, and much more valuable
than credit card information,
with healthcare records selling
for tens to hundreds of dollars,
while U.S. credit card records sell
for 50 cents or less. The enor-
mous detail available in patient
records is the reason for this,
making it possible for criminals
to not only apply for credit cards
or loans, but to generate large
sums from fraudulent medical
charges, or even to compromise
a patient’s existing financial ac-
counts.
The survey results indicate that data protection in
healthcare organizations is driven largely by compli-
ance requirements – 54 percent reported compliance
requirements as the top reason for protecting sensitive
data, and 68 percent rated compliance as very or ex-
tremely effective at stopping insider threats and data
Nearly Half of Healthcare IT Decision-Makers
Feel Very or Extremely Vulnerable
