White House pushes for stronger healthcare cybersecurity standards

Investing.com — U.S. healthcare organizations may face stricter cybersecurity measures to curb data breaches, following attacks on Ascension and UnitedHealth (NYSE:), a senior White House official said Friday.

Anne Neuberger, Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology, highlighted the urgency of new rules after breaches in 2023 exposed data from over 167 million Americans.

“In this job, one of the most concerning and really troubling things we deal with is hacking of hospitals, hacking of healthcare data,” Neuberger said.

Proposals include encrypted data to prevent access even if leaked and mandatory compliance checks. The Department of Health and Human Services plans to update HIPAA standards, with estimated costs of $9 billion in the first year and $6 billion annually from years two to five.

Hospitals have been forced to operate manually and Americans’ sensitive healthcare data, mental health information and other information are “being leaked on the dark web with the opportunity to blackmail individuals,” Neuberger said.

Cyberattacks on healthcare organizations have surged, with hacking incidents up 89% and ransomware attacks up 102% since 2019, Neuberger noted.