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Healthcare Attacks Up
Hacker attacks targeting Healthcare Organizations increase 57 percent from 2006 to 2007 according to SecureWorks' data
ATLANTA - August 17, 2007 - SecureWorks, the largest managed security services provider safeguarding 1,800 clients, has seen a 57 percent increase in the number of attempted attacks directed toward its healthcare clients by Internet hackers. Attempted attacks have increased from an average of 5,900 per healthcare client per day in the last half of 2006 to an average of 9,300 per healthcare client per day in the first half of 2007.
HIMSS Security Special Interest Group Chair and SecureWorks Director of Development, Wayne Haber (CISSP), says that the recent spike in attacks can be attributed to several types of malware including the Iwebho, Prg, Pinch and Storm trojans and the Allaple worm.
"The volume and type of attacks targeting healthcare organizations mirrors that of other industries SecureWorks protects including financial, retail, government organizations and utilities," said Haber. "This demonstrates that healthcare organizations are not immune to increasing attack activity. Unfortunately, these new trojans and worms have the potential to create more lasting damage than previous types of malware."
As an example, the Iwebho trojan infects computers and captures all personal information entered into browser-based applications including bank account credentials, user names and passwords, corporate applications, credit card data, etc. lwebho used phishing e-mails that appeared to be from the Better Business Bureau claiming that a complaint had been filed against the recipient of the e-mail. The e-mail instructed the recipient to download the case documents to view the complaint; clicking on the link initiated the infection. SecureWorks discovered a cache of stolen data from 1,400 corporate executives, according to Haber, while researching the trojan (see http://secureworks.com/research/threats/bbbphish/ for more details). This is one of the first examples where business users were targeted rather than home users.
"Attention to security in the healthcare industry increased recently as a result of the HIPAA audit of an Atlanta-based hospital that was initiated by the Office of Inspector General," added Haber. "While the financial industry has been audited for many years to ensure that appropriate security practices were in place, the healthcare community has not been subjected to the same regulatory inspection. While it isn't clear whether there will be a trend of audits, it is clear that healthcare organizations need to raise the bar to ensure that they can defend themselves against increased attack volumes and more lethal attack types."
SecureWorks currently protects 70 healthcare clients across the country. Attack statistics provided are from a 12-month study of 40 clients who are using SecureWorks Intrusion Detection and Prevention Solution (IDS/IPS) at the edge of their network, giving SecureWorks visibility into all attempted attacks while blocking them.
SecureWorks recommends that all organizations, including health care, use a defense-in-depth strategy to shield themselves against information security threats like the Iwebho, Prg, Storm and Pinch trojans.
About SecureWorks
With over 1,875 clients, SecureWorks has become the largest managed security services provider safeguarding more organizations than any other vendor. SecureWorks provides the most effective security services by leveraging our integrated security management platform, advanced security research, and 100 percent GIAC certified experts. By providing a full breadth of security services, SecureWorks offers fully-managed, co-managed, monitored or self-service security solutions to meet the needs of Fortune 100 companies with large security teams as well as smaller companies with no security expertise. In addition, SecureWorks has helped companies pass over 2,400 compliance audits by providing comprehensive and straight-forward board and examination reports. SecureWorks won SC Magazine’s 2007 and 2006 MSSP of the Year award and the 2006 Best Intrusion Prevention award, Frost & Sullivan's 2006 Entrepreneurial Company of the Year award and was named to the Inc 500 and Deloitte & Touche lists of fastest-growing companies for the past two years.