64,000 Additional Patients Impacted By Omnicell Data Breach

 Omnicell revealed a data breach impacting roughly 62,000 patients in April 2022. The problem has affected an additional 64,000 people, according to the business. The overall number of patients afflicted now exceeds 126,000.

Will you be the next Omnicell victim? If you ignore the need of data security, attackers will find you in no time.

Investigate the effect of the data breach on the healthcare industry and what precautions might be done to avoid future attacks.

Omnicell Reports Data Breach

Omnicell, founded in 1992, is a market leader in drug management systems for hospitals, long-term care homes, and retail pharmacies. Omnicell's IT infrastructure and third-party cloud services were hit by ransomware assaults on May 4, 2022, raising data security worries for staff and patients. While the inquiry is still in its early stages, this seems to be a serious violation with possibly serious ramifications for the organization.

On August 3, 2022, Omnicell started notifying people whose information may have been exposed. Due to the time lag between the breach and the company's notification of impacted patients, hackers may be able to obtain and sell patient-sensitive information such as social security numbers.

The types of information that might be disclosed are as follows:

• Credit card details
• Financial details
• Personal identification numbers
• Numbers on driver's licenses
• Details about health insurance
• Cyberattacks mostly target the healthcare industry.

The Omnicell Data Breach was not the only cyber-attack on healthcare organizations. Even the Oklahoma City Indian Clinic (OKCIC) was struck by ransomware, which stole 40,000 people's medical information.

Healthcare is one of the most targeted industries in the world, with assaults increasing year over year. These expenses are estimated in millions, if not billions, of dollars, not to mention greater dangers to patients' privacy (and reputation).

According to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, the public health business was the most targeted by ransomware assaults last year. The cost of recovering from a ransomware attack might reach $1.85 million, ranking second among all sectors.

This is due to the sensitive nature of the data collected and stored by healthcare companies. Because healthcare practitioners use data to provide adequate treatment, two-factor authentication and zero-trust protection strategies are not always practical. Attackers are drawn to this material because it is very valuable. As a consequence, healthcare institutions must exercise extreme caution in their attempts to safeguard themselves from cyber-attacks.

In addition to typical cybersecurity precautions, healthcare institutions should think about investing in a next-generation security solution like AppTranato to prevent assaults from occurring.

What Comes Next? How Can You Keep Your Institutions Safe From Data Breach?

Here are a few measures that may have averted the Omnicell data leak and safeguarded the patients' personal information:

Filter Incoming Emails: The majority of ransomware attacks rely on malicious traffic distribution to feed the virus version. Investing in a Web Application Firewall is one approach to avoid these events. It proactively prevents emerging attacks and guarantees real-time protection.

Check that your software is up to date: It is crucial to do frequent inspections of your key apps and servers to ensure that you are operating on the most recent software.

Evaluate your Security Systems: It is critical to thoroughly analyze endpoint security systems for flaws that might allow attackers access.

Create Regular Backups of Important Data: Being prepared is the greatest approach to minimize ransomware attacks. This implies you should back up your data on a regular basis and create copies of it in both the cloud and an offsite place.

Enforce a "Zero Trust" Policy: As technology progresses, the requirement for a "Zero Trust" policy becomes more vital. With so many new devices, individuals, and partners attempting to access your network or data, it's critical that you set trust rules before allowing them access.

Encryption: Encrypting healthcare data is the best approach to secure it. Encryption guarantees that even if data is taken, it is useless without the appropriate key. To protect patient information and stay in line with industry laws, healthcare institutions must prioritize encryption.

The Closure

Finding the correct balance between providing high-quality healthcare services, adopting an effective cyber security system, and safeguarding patient data may be difficult. However, reputational harm caused by data breaches is costly and irrevocable; thus, you must be better prepared to avert attacks to your infrastructure.

Because cyberattacks are becoming more sophisticated, obtaining professional assistance is critical to minimizing interruption and ensuring the protection of your workers' and patients' data.

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