Each year, Bitglass analyzes data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ “Wall of Shame,” a database containing information about breaches of protected health information (PHI) that affected 500 or more individuals. In 2019’s report, the latest data is compared to that of previous years, revealing key trends and cybersecurity challenges facing the healthcare industry.

Breaches recorded in the HHS database are categorized into one of the following groups:

• Hacking or IT incidents: Breaches related to malicious hackers and improper IT security
• Unauthorized access or disclosure: All unauthorized access and sharing of protected health information
• Loss or theft: Breaches enabled by the loss or theft of endpoint devices
• Other: Miscellaneous breaches and leaks related to items such as improper disposal of data.