More than 45 million medical procedures and results, including X-rays and CT scans, have been left exposed on unprotected servers.
According to a revealing report by CybelAngel There are millions of sensitive medical results, including personal health care information, available without encryption and password protection.
No username or password required
Analysts found that available medical results, including up to 200 lines of metadata per enrollment, which include personally identifiable information such as name, date birth, address, height, weight, diagnosis, etc., can be viewed without requiring a username or password. In some cases, login portals accepted blank usernames and passwords.
"The fact that we did not use any piracy tools in our research underscores the ease with which we have been able to discover and access these files," said David Sygula, an analyst at CybelAngel.
"This is a worrying discovery and demonstrates that stricter security procedures need to be put in place to protect the way sensitive medical information is shared and stored data by health professionals. The balance between security and accessibility is imperative to prevent leakage from a data breach.”
Todd Carroll, CISO of CybelAngel further commented, “Medical centers work with a vast, interconnected web of third-party providers, and the cloud is an essential platform to share and store data. However, security gaps present a huge risk, both to the individuals whose data has been breached and to healthcare institutions governed by regulations to protect patient data.”
"The health sector has faced unprecedented challenges this year, but the security and confidentiality of most of their patients' personal records must be protected to prevent confidential data from falling into the wrong hands."
Security risks for accessible results
The report emphasizes the security risks of publicly available results that contain highly personal information, such as ransomware and blackmail. This type of data earns a premium on the dark web.
In terms of compliance, healthcare providers are also subject to regulatory sanctions, such as the GDPR in Europe and the HIPAA in the US, for breaches of sensitive patient information.
