The Unseen Impact: A Critical Investigation of Healthcare Cybersecurity Breaches Using HHS Data

作者：Chandra Prakash, Elyson de La Cruz · 发表于：Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery - International Congress and Exhibition · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1109/cars67163.2025.11337866

The healthcare sector has become one of the most frequent targets for cyberattacks due to the sensitivity and high value of patient data. This study systematically analyzes healthcare data breaches over the past decade using breach data reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (HHS-OCR). Employing descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and chi-square testing, the study identifies hacking and IT incidents as the most prevalent and damaging breach types, with healthcare providers being the most frequently targeted entities. Geographic and organizational disparities in breach frequency and scale underscore the need for entity-specific security strategies. Notably, there is no significant correlation between breach frequency and the number of individuals affected, indicating that a small number of large-scale incidents contribute disproportionately to the overall impact. These findings provide healthcare leaders, policymakers, and IT professionals with data-driven insights to enhance cybersecurity resilience in an increasingly digitized healthcare environment.