How Social Engineering Threatens Patient Privacy in Healthcare?
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In 2015, Anthem Inc., which is one of the largest health insurers in the U.S., experienced a huge data breach that exposed personal information of 78.8 million patients. The attack didn’t include traditional hacking techniques; rather, cyber intruders used social engineering in healthcare to trick employees into revealing login credentials via a phishing email.
Social engineering takes benefit of human psychology rather than any technical issues. This makes it one of the most dangerous threats to patient privacy in healthcare. Medical records hold more critical information than credit cards. It includes personal details, medical history, clinical findings, diagnostic results, treatment plans, and more.
Cybercriminals sell medical data on the dark web, which gives them a significant amount of money. This is why healthcare organizations are prime targets. The best way to tackle these sophisticated attacks is to leverage social engineering services. They have expertise in protecting your healthcare systems in several ways.
This blog will explore what social engineering is and how hospitals and clinics can defend themselves against these healthcare data breaches. So, let’s get started.
What is Social Engineering?
Social engineering is a technique that manipulates people into disclosing confidential information. This is different from a malware attack or brute-force hacking. Primarily, it depends on deception and various psychological tricks. Let’s look at the types of social engineering attacks used in healthcare.
1. Phishing
Phishing in healthcare refers to receiving fake emails or messages that impersonate credible sources such as IT departments, insurance providers, etc.
For example, a nurse receives an email that states, "Your login credentials have expired. Click here to reset".
2. Pretexting
In this social engineering technique, hackers create a fake scenario to extract critical information.
For example, a scammer might call a hospital and portray himself as a doctor and ask for urgent access to a patient’s records.
3. Baiting
It’s a popular social engineering scam where a hacker offers something lucrative in the form of freebies. Something like a free USB drive that contains malware.
For example, A cyber criminal leaves an infected USB stick labeled as “Patient Billing Records” in a hospital parking lot.
4. Tailgating
It is a physical security breach. This happens when cybercriminals gain access to a restricted area in a hospital setting by following an authorized person (nurse, doctor, etc.). Tailgating often includes exploiting human error in cybersecurity protocols, rather than technical vulnerabilities.
For example, a cyber intruder poses as a maintenance worker to access servers where electronic health records (EHRs) are stored.
Why does this work?
- Healthcare workers often rush due to the high volume of patients, making them more susceptible to scams.
- Many staff members and employees are not trained to identify social engineering tactics.
Why Healthcare is a Prime Target for Social Engineering Attacks?
The primary reasons are that the healthcare industry handles sensitive patient data. Apart from that, healthcare systems are often outdated or under-resourced, making them an easy target to infiltrate. Let’s look at why hackers target healthcare.
1. Medical Data is Extremely Valuable
The biggest reasons for cyberattacks in healthcare are that it encompasses high-value data. A single medical record sells for $250-$1,000 or even more on the dark web. These records include social security numbers, insurance-related details, and other diagnosis information. These are perfect for identity theft and insurance fraud.
2. Lack of Cybersecurity Training
According to a study, 82% of healthcare breaches involve human errors. This is because employees are unsure how to identify fake emails or suspicious calls.
3. Urgency Factor
In a high-stress environment such as a hospital, employees may bypass security protocols to resolve issues quickly. This is where hackers take their chances and create false emergencies, for example, "Your account will be locked in 10 minutes," to exploit hidden gaps.
4. Legacy Systems
In this tech-driven world, many healthcare providers still use outdated software with critical issues. They think they can’t be targeted. However, that’s where they make mistakes. A weak password or a lack of multi-factor authentication (MFA) makes breaches easier.
5. Regulatory Pressure
A HIPAA violation can lead to significant fines, which go up to $1.5 million per year. In fact, data breaches also damage patient trust and reputation.
How Social Engineering Compromises Patient Privacy?
Social engineering can cause severe damage to your data, money, and reputation. Let’s see what they are capable of doing -
1. Get Access to Electronic Health Records(EHRs)
Once cybercriminals gain access to login credentials, they can steal, change, or even delete sensitive patient data.
2. Conduct Medical Identity Theft
Hackers use this stolen data to file fake insurance claims, obtain prescription drugs illegally, and commit tax fraud using patients’ social security numbers.
3. Blackmail and Extortion
The biggest threat is that they might threaten to publicly release sensitive health records such as HIV status and mental health history.
4. Reputation Damage
Another significant aspect is that patients lose trust in organizations that fail to protect their data. This results in a loss of operational workflows.
How Healthcare Organizations Can Defend Against Social Engineering Scams?
So, how do healthcare institutions eliminate these social engineering attacks? They can take the assistance of a social engineering services provider. They have the required expertise and skills to defend against these cyberattacks.
1. Employee Training & Awareness Program
Healthcare organizations can conduct regular phishing simulation tests to verify unusual requests. Without any verifications, not even a single confidential information should be shared. In fact, train your employees to never share passwords via email, WhatsApp, or over the phone.
2. Stronger Access Controls
There should be role-based access to limit who can view and modify sensitive data. For this, institutions can implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all systems.
3. Technology Solutions
Use an AI-powered anomaly detection system to flag any suspicious login attempts. Additionally, your healthcare app development project should incorporate email filtering tools to block any phishing attempts.
4. Incident Response Plan
But what if, after all these secure practices, a breach occurs? Well, then there has to be an incident response plan to minimize the damage and take control of the affected system immediately.
It should include a step-by-step guideline for various cyber threats, with what to do in subsequent phases explained in detail. Apart from that, HIPAA compliance measures help you stay compliant with regulations, protect patient health information, and build trust.
The Future of Social Engineering Threats in Healthcare
With technological advancements, cyber criminals are also changing their attack tactics. They are using AI-powered tools, deepfakes, and phishing techniques to penetrate more and exploit human errors.
- In the future, hackers will use AI-assisted deepfake scams, such as fake voice calls impersonating hospital administrators.
- Healthcare entities can expect telehealth vulnerabilities as remote care grows.
- Combine both physical and digital attacks simultaneously to create more havoc.
How to Stop these Future-focused Social Engineering Attacks in Healthcare?
- Use natural language processing for voice recognition
- Implement biometric verification for sensitive information, such as fund transfers and EHR access.
- Implement AI to detect voice modulation anomalies.
- Integrate behavioral biometrics to identify typing speed and mouse movements.
- Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) to prevent data leaks.
Conclusion
Social engineering is a significant threat not only to patient privacy but also to the entire healthcare ecosystem. This is because it exploits human trust rather than any software vulnerabilities. So, it is important for healthcare workers to stay vigilant, upgrade security, and mark down suspicious requests. They can hire social engineering services experts to identify and eliminate those threats, and build a strong security system to keep patients' information secure and ensure a smooth operational workflow.
