Why would Chinese hackers want US hospital patient data?
The theft of personal data on 4.5 million patients of Community Health Systems by hackers in China highlights the increasing degree to which hospitals are becoming lucrative targets for information theft.
Already this year, around 150 incidents of lost or stolen personal data -- either due to hacking or ineptitude -- have been reported by medical establishments to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
In the case of Community Health Systems, hackers stole patient names, addresses, birth dates, telephone numbers and Social Security numbers. They did not steal medical data, Community Health Systems said -- but that data can be the real prize in such breaches. With its high prices and lack of a centralized health system, the U.S. is a lucrative target because in the right marketplace, health records can be worth a lot of money, said John Halamka, chief information officer of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and chairman of the New England Healthcare Exchange Network.
