According to a new report compiled by Mayra Rosario Fuentes and the Forward-Looking Threat Research Team at TrendLabs, stolen health records have emerged as one of the most lucrative illicit materials being traded, bought and sold across digital market places such as those found on the dark or Deep Web.
The next big score: electronic health record databases
These records encompass everything from medical insurance plans, medical profiles of individuals and entire electronic health record databases as stored by health providers, insurers, firms and governments.
EHR's contain comprehensive information regarding patient demographics, insurance plans, mailing addresses, Social Security numbers, medical history, lifestyle details, medications, vital signs, family medical history, immunization records, as well as laboratory and radiology results. The depth of insight about individuals, organizations and families that can be gained by a criminal element seeking to access these materials is truly astounding.
While entire electronic health record (EHR) databases are being sold for as much as $500,000 per data set, there are highly developed markets found in the deepest recesses of the global communications interface where almost any personal identity related medical document or record has a value.
Part of what is driving the value of EHR databases so high has to do with the complex array of other fraudulent documents and materials which can be created from these. From tax returns, to driver's licenses, birth certificates to prescriptions for pharmaceutical drugs, criminals love EHR databases because of all the crimes that can be committed with even just one of these data sets.
Digital insecurity: the new electronic arena of global crime
The report compiled by Fuentes and TrendLabs lists the Internet of Things (IoT) as one of the most glaring areas through which digital security is being compromised in healthcare delivery and other associated private and governmental organizations. The Internet of Things refers to the modern landscape of connectivity which links traditional and cloud based storage systems with every day items such as traffic lights, x-ray machines, and so many other elements of the modern world.
Greater connectivity across these devices and the rest of our world seems to be coming at the expense of making more areas of our daily lives vulnerable to threat.
