4.4 Million Records Exposed in Healthcare Breach: The Case for Built-In Security

[johny899]

Let's accept the facts that nobody, I mean nobody, enjoys hearing the words "data breach." For example, when a company discovers that 4.4 million customer records were leaked in a TransUnion data breach, one has to think: If this can happen to them, then what does that mean for us?

Now imagine that same scenario in healthcare, where we are one wrong click away from actually losing the trust of the patient, the confidentiality of the patient, and potentially the life of the patient. That's terrifying!

The Cost of Inaccuracy​

Unfortunately, when you breach healthcare data, there are no fines & fees, & no bad press; in healthcare, we are dealing with real people and their personal information. According to IBM's 2025 report, the average cost for a healthcare data breach is $7.42 million - the highest among any industry! Keep in mind, this does not include the additional costs of:

• Loss of patient trust
• Operational slowdowns for weeks
• Legal & compliance costs

Let’s be straight with this statement; even with timely remediation, once the data is out, it is out.

When Waiting Too Long Is More Painful​

Take the case of CPAP Medical Supplies. The company's system was hacked, and the hack went unnoticed for over six months. Six months! By the time they figured it out, regulators were calling, money was going into recovery instead of growth, and patients no longer trusted them. It’s a high cost to pay for waiting.

So the real question is, why do so many organizations still treat security like it’s a second thought?

Incorporating Security From Day One​

Here’s the difference of the smart healthcare teams – they incorporate security as opposed to clunkily adding it later on.

Companies like Kanda Software know it works. They practice DevSecOps, which simply means security is integrated into every step, from the first line of code to go-live.

Here are several straightforward methods to address that:

• Make sure you regularly assess and report on security breaches as soon as you identify vulnerabilities
• Add quick checking for security at each step of delivery
• Put alerts in place, so you’re not the last to know something has gone wrong
• Make it a team sport, and not just the IT department

This will help reduce the chance of a breach and will lead to trust and success in your work.

Here is the hard truth, you can never fix a breach after an incident, you can only prevent it.

By building security in at every layer of development, healthcare organizations protect their patient data, maintain compliance, and save themselves (and money) stress.