Retail Or Healthcare: Which Is The Bigger Breach Threat?

By Ian Trump, Security Lead, MAXfocus

Pssst! I have something for you. It is perhaps the worst-kept secret in healthcare.

Surely, that grabbed your attention — and here’s what should hold it: Many of the industry’s vendors have done a poor job ensuring their applications are properly patched and up-to-date. And the sheer volume of devices running those applications to access and share confidential patient records complicates matters considerably.

Welcome to 2015, where healthcare supplants retail as the industry facing the bigger breach threat.

That isn’t to say retail has completely overcome its security challenges. But the high-profile breaches that made headlines in 2014 raised consumer awareness to new heights. Furthermore, among retailers, fear of becoming the next breach victim has expedited the adoption of Europay, MasterCard and Visa technology for credit cards — otherwise known as “EMV” or “chip-and-PIN.” (The swipe-and-sign era will soon come to a close.)

Vigilance and chip-and-PIN adoption will strengthen security, though those protective measures alone won’t offer total protection. Still, they better equip retail to thwart today’s sophisticated cyberthreats.

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