HHS Warns of Threats to Electronic Health Records

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center in a threat brief issued Thursday says EHRs/EMRs are profitable to cybercriminals – for extortion, fraud, identity theft, data laundering and sale on the dark web. That’s because the records contain protected health information of patients that can include 18 identifiers including names, birthdates, account numbers, Social Security numbers, health plan information and biometric identifiers. “These 18 identifiers provide criminals with more information than any other breached record,” HHS says.