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Number of patient records compromised by data breaches dropped 80% in 2017

Number of patient records compromised by data breaches dropped 80% in 2017

February 2, 2018

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Healthcare data breaches continued to climb in 2017, but the number of affected patient records declined 80% as the industry managed to avoid a large-scale attack.

Still, analysts warned that 2017 may have been an off year for malicious actors who are “taking a breach before a resurgence of attacks in 2018,” according to an annual Breach Barometer report published by Protenus and DataBreaches.net.

A total of 477 data breaches were reported to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights last year, up slightly from the 450 reported in 2016, according to the report. Far fewer records were implicated: 5.6 million in 2017 versus 27.3 million in 2016.

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