Dive Brief:
- Health care companies are increasingly hiring chief information security officers (CISOs) who understand the business of both health care and risk management.
- According to an analysis of malicious traffic by the SANS Institute, networks and Internet-connected devices of health care organizations — including health plans, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies — are being compromised at an "alarming" rate.
- While it may be worthwhile to have them on board, CISOs aren't cheap. Their compensation can range from $200,000 to $700,000 a year.
Dive Insight:
This may be just the beginning of the battle against cyberattacks in health care, as the massive data breaches at Target and eBay suggest. And there's solid evidence to back up this claim, according to a report from security rating firm BitSight Technology, which reported that health care experienced the largest growth in security incidents during the study period, as well as the slowest response rate. Health care organizations are doubtless hoping that CISOs can turn this situation around.