Avoidable ‘Collateral Damage’ from Data Breaches
A report released on April 29 by Javelin Strategy and Research has found that a high percentage of consumers avoid doing businesses that have experienced data breaches. The report focuses on three industries: healthcare, as well as the financial and retail sectors.
Among healthcare providers, 30 percent of patients will seek a new provider if their hospital or doctor’s office suffers a data breach. It also noted that, to supplement the limited resources of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), state attorneys general may now pursue civil cases related to data breaches on behalf of the federal agency. These civil cases may open the door to costly fines in addition to brand damage of the breached healthcare providers, it says.
In addition to declining revenue, the report said that post-breach expenditures go up significantly. The offer of identity protection services is a common practice across all of the industries surveyed, but especially so in healthcare: 54 percent of providers offer victim identity protection services (IDPS). The report maintains that while consumers may benefit due to the wide range of sensitive personal identifiable information and personal health information they share with their providers, IDPS generally offers poor protection against medical identity fraud. This results in unnecessary costs to the provider organization and a false sense of security for consumers, it says.
The report recommends that provider organizations conduct ongoing risk assessments as a preventative measure, and that the process should incorporate a “sensitive data management” program, which can be tailored to each organization. Such a program should include five steps:
- Sift through irrelevant data to identify sensitive information;
- Classify sensitive information and assign accountability to manage and protect it;
- Secure unprotected files and remove at-risk data;
- Centrally monitor policies, actions, and good behavior going forward; and
- Report compliance with policy and regulation.
The survey was conducted among 5,634 U.S. adults over age 18 in October 2013. The report was sponsored by Identity Finder, LLC. Javelin maintains independence in its data collection, findings and analysis, and says the sponsor was not involved with the tabulation of the survey data or analysis.
