Exploit: Phishing attack
Presbyterian Health Services: Private, not-for-profit healthcare system and provider
Risk to Small Business: 1.777 = Severe: Beginning on May 9th, hackers gained access to employee email accounts that contained copious amounts of patient data. The employees fell for a phishing scam that compromised their accounts, which criminals accessed for nearly a month before the healthcare provider discovered the breach. While Presbyterian Health Services secured their employee accounts after discovering the unauthorized access, cybercriminals had plenty of time to exploit this vulnerability. Healthcare data breaches are incredibly expensive, and Presbyterian Health Services will incur the immediate cost of identity and credit monitoring services as well as increased regulatory scrutiny because patient data was involved.
Individual Risk: 2.142 = Severe: Hackers accessed patients’ names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and other healthcare related data. This information can quickly spread on the Dark Web, and those impacted by the breach need to attain the services necessary to protect this information.
Customers Impacted: 183,000
How it Could Affect Your Customers’ Business: Every organization wants to avoid the high cost of a data breach, so succumbing to defensible attacks like a phishing scam is uniquely frustrating. Phishing scams are cheap and easy to execute, and they are frequently making their way into employees’ inboxes. Therefore, comprehensive awareness training is a must-have element for every organization’s cybersecurity initiatives.
Risk Levels:
1 - 1.5 = Extreme Risk
1.51 - 2.49 = Severe Risk
2.5 - 3 = Moderate Risk
*The risk score is calculated using a formula that considers a wide range of factors related to the assessed breach.
