By Dan Hounsell

Healthcare IT managers are increasingly feeling the impact of the rising tide of data breaches and ransomware affecting their organizations. Now, the impact of these incidents on the organizations’ bottom lines is bringing more scrutiny on the need for strong IT defenses.

Ransomware in 2020 continued to be a threat, and many cases resulted in lawsuits, according to the BakerHostetler Data Security Incident Response Report reported by Healthcare IT Security.

Healthcare was one of the industries most affected by tracked ransomware incidents, second only to education. For organizations covered by the report, the average initial ransomware demand was a whopping $4,583,090.

In the healthcare industry, the average ransom payout was $910,335 – not quite the $4.6 million ask, but still a hefty sum. The ransom itself wasn't the only price systems faced. According to the report, the average forensic investigation cost was $58,963.

The report notes a growing trend in smaller data-breach class action lawsuits. Of the 20 related to incidents disclosed in 2020, nine involved medical or health information.