Health sector ranks as most vulnerable to data breaches in 2023
Latest findings from the Information Commissioner’s Office underscore significant compliance challenges within the UK health sector
UK data breach solicitors Hayes Connor have analysed the Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO) recent data, revealing the sectors that experienced the highest proportion of data breaches last year.
The 10 most impacted sectors were:
- Health 17.42%
- Education and childcare 14.44%
- Finance, insurance and credit 10.93%
- Local government 9.90%
- Retail and manufacture 9.76%
- Legal 7.31%
- Charitable and voluntary 6.63%
- Land or property services 4.31%
- Transport and leisure 3.58%
- Online technology and telecoms 2.92%
The data shows that 73.21% of incidents within the UK health sector involved breaches of basic personal identifiable information, with instances also prominently affecting sensitive health data. Notably, 142 cases in the health sector last year involved breaches of children’s data, which raises serious concerns given the vulnerability of such information.
The assessment indicates that unauthorised access and data emailed to the wrong recipient were the leading causes of breaches. These findings point to an urgent need for enhanced data handling training within the health sector, said Hayes Connor.
Furthermore, 43.88% of these breaches were reported after the crucial 72-hour window required by Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), exposing the affected organisation to potential heavy fines.
Richard Forrest, Legal Director at Hayes Connor, commented: “Despite regulatory advancements, and the introduction of stricter compliance mechanisms, the rate of data breaches remains a serious concern. The recent ICO trends portray a continuous need for vigilance and updated compliance strategies from businesses, especially in how they manage and protect personal data against emerging cyber threats and human error.”
Last month, Rick Jones, CEO and Co-Founder of DigitalXRAID, discussed cybersecurity and its importance in the healthcare sector, with the ITIJ team.