As per data published by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, the healthcare industry in Australia accounted for 22% of notifiable data breaches between January to June 2020, which was more than any other industry. Cybercriminals continue to target this industry due to the vast amounts of highly sensitive personal information (such as Medicare numbers, credit card information and medical insurance numbers) that is stored by healthcare providers.

The risk of a breach and the lingering threat of cybercriminals has only intensified with COVID-19. More and more people continue to share their personally identifiable information with healthcare providers, while the healthcare providers fail to provide cyber security training and awareness to their employees. In an increasingly challenging cyber security landscape, healthcare providers must be prepared for a data breach to ensure they’re in the best defensible position when a cyberattack inevitably occurs.