Healthcare organisations lose an estimated 20% of sensitive data every time there is a successful ransomware encryption event, almost five times more sensitive data than the global average, according to Rubrik Zero Lab’s new “The State of Data Security: Measuring Your Data’s Risk.”
“With the surge in digital service delivery and cloud adoption, the region faces escalating cyber threats, posing significant risks to sensitive data, especially in healthcare where vast amounts of information are handled. There’s a pressing need for deeper collaboration between government, industry, and other stakeholders in fortifying cyber resilience in Asia, particularly in critical sectors like healthcare,” said Abhilash Purushothaman, vice president and general manager of Asia at Rubrik.
Sensitive healthcare data
The report revealed that a typical healthcare organisation saw its data estate grow by 27% last year, with more than 42 million sensitive data records, 50% higher than the global average (28 million).
Sensitive data records in healthcare organisations grew by more than 63% in 2023, five times higher than the global average (13%).
Further, Rubrik observed that 97% of all encrypted data in healthcare organisations last year occurred within virtualised architecture.
Defense against ransomware
With Singapore’s added challenge of an aging population, Purushothaman projects an inevitable growth in healthcare data.
“We need to acknowledge and take action against the evolving cyber threat landscape, including the alarming rise of ransomware attacks, by bolstering our first and last line of defenses and minimise the impact of potential breaches targeting critical data. By comprehensively examining these challenges and working collectively, the nation can enhance its cyber resilience posture, enabling quicker and more predictable recovery from cyberattacks while reducing data security risks,” he added.