Loss of critical patient data presents the greatest business risk to healthcare organizations, according to a poll published this week by IT provider CDW Healthcare.
A new data loss straw poll released by the firm found that almost two-thirds (63%) of healthcare IT professionals consider personally identifiable information, such as patient records, the most likely target for a cyberattack on their organizations.
The increasing concern may be due to ever-growing numbers of users accessing healthcare networks -- estimated at more than 50% over the past two years, CDW said in a statement. Behind the estimate, office locations have grown by 61%, mobile device deployment has grown by 59%, and electronic health record implementation is up 47%, the company said.
Most worrisome are mobile devices. The poll found that 68% of surveyed organizations allow employee-owned devices to access their networks, while the security measures for such devices tend to be less strict than for employer-owned equipment, CDW said.
The company surveyed 654 IT professionals in healthcare, financial services, businesses, and higher education about their data loss concerns.
