Health Care Sector Leads as Most Breached Industry in 2024, Raising Consumer Concerns
Health care emerged as the most targeted industry for data breaches in 2024, surpassing finance and raising significant concerns about consumer privacy and security, according to an analysis by Kroll.
“Kroll found that the healthcare industry was the most breached, had fairly immature incident response practices, and unfortunately suffered numerous cyberattacks culminating in a year that left healthcare boards thinking deeply of the overall risk to their businesses,” wrote Denyl Green, Global Head of Breach Notification in the Cyber and Data Resilience business.
Health care breaches accounted for 45% of all such activations, compared with 25% in the technology industry and 20% in the finance sector. The Kroll report also found that roughly one-third of all calls to its data breach support services in 2024 came from individuals affected by health care breaches, further emphasizing the sector’s vulnerability.
Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting the health care industry due to the high value of patient records and the critical nature of care delivery. Despite these risks, health care organizations remain underprepared compared to other industries, with fewer advanced cybersecurity measures in place, according to Kroll’s findings.
In 2024, several large-scale cyberattacks targeted the health care sector, including a ransomware attack on Change Healthcare, a UnitedHealth-owned company. The attack, which severely disrupted provider payments and key operational functions for weeks, has since been confirmed to have exposed the data of approximately 190 million individuals—making it the largest health care data breach ever reported to federal regulators.
As cyberattacks on health care continue to rise, industry experts emphasize the need for stronger cybersecurity investments, proactive threat detection, and employee training to mitigate risks. Without significant improvements, the sector remains a lucrative target for cybercriminals, threatening patient privacy and the stability of critical health care operations.
Reference
Healthcare was most breached sector in 2024: report. HealthcareDive. Published February 19, 2025. Accessed March 14, 2025. https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/healthcare-most-data-breaches-kroll-2024/740379/
Data Breach Outlook: Healthcare Most Breached Industry in 2024. Kroll. Published February 18, 2025. Accessed March 14, 2025. https://www.kroll.com/en/insights/publications/cyber/data-breach-outlook-2025
