BitsnBytes-Winter2024-2025

INSIDE Featured Winter 2024-2025 What Is Generative AI? 5 AI Impacts Cybersecurity 8 Spyware on Phones: Know its Impacts and Delete It 10 Proactive Steps Can Mitigate Risks and Consequences of Data Breaches T he cost of healthcare data breaches keeps increasing, as reported by Chief Healthcare Executive ( July 24, 2023). According to IBM Security, an artificial intelligence-driven cybersecurity company, the average healthcare data breach now costs $10.93 million, an 8% increase from 2022. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the average healthcare breach cost has increased by 53%. Limor Kessem, Senior Cybersecurity Consultant at IBM Security, attributes the rise to the healthcare industry being a prime target for attackers. One prime example was the HCA Healthcare attack in July 2023, when 11 million patients’ information was released by an unauthorized party, making it one of the largest data breaches in 2023 and underscoring the vulnerability of breaches in this sector. Another example was a cyberattack on Change Healthcare (CHC), an independent healthcare technology company owned by UnitedHealth Group (UHG), which took place in February 2024. BlackCat, a ransomware group, claimed responsibility for the attack, and according to the CHC HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) Substitute Notice webpage (updated August 8, 2024), law enforcement and security experts’ investigations confirmed that there was a significant amount of stolen data between February 17 and 20, 2024. Although CHC does not have exact confirmation on what data was impacted, they surmised that individuals’ contact information, health insurance information, medical history, billing and payment information, and other personal information were affected. CHC announced the stolen data in April 2024 and began notifying affected customers in June, Continued on page 4