Healthcare industry continues to be main target of data breaches

The healthcare industry has again reported the most data breaches to the privacy regulator in the first half of 2022, continuing a trend since Australia’s reporting scheme began in 2018.

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Overall, 396 breaches were reported according to the OAIC’s latest summary — 14 per cent fewer than the 460 notifications in July to December 2021.

However, there were more data breaches involving a large number of Australians in the first half of 2022: four affected 100,000 or more, compared with just one in the previous half-year.

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A data breach could include health information in an email sent to the wrong person, or even lost paperwork.

Likewise, the potential threat surface in health care is significant: “There is a lot of sharing of data between individuals delivering health services, the GP, the chiropractor, the pharmacy,” Mr Leonard said.

“By definition, the more … humans involved in handling information, the more likely something is going to go wrong.”

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The government is currently completing a review of Australian privacy law, which will also consider the impact and effectiveness of the NDB scheme.

Read more: ABC News via MSN, 10 November 2022