Cybersecurity is a top concern for all industries, particularly
for the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. These
industries hold some of the most sensitive data and highly valuable
technology, making them prime targets for cybercriminals. Here we
discuss cybersecurity risks, how to protect against those risks,
and the latest on the legal impact of those risks.
I. Cybersecurity Risks
The year 2021 was a record-breaker for data security breaches.
There were 1,864 data breaches affecting 422 million individuals -
a 68% increase from 2020. Out of those, 1,143 of them divulged
individuals’ entire social security number. More than 80% of
the successful breaches were accomplished due to human factors,
such as compromised passwords and successful phishing scams. In
fact, 33% of the 2021 data breaches were accomplished through
phishing attacks, which also happens to be the third most common
scam reported to the FBI. A majority of the phishing attacks were
achieved through spear phishing, which is successful because the
scam email appears to have been sent from a trusted source.
Smishing -SMS phishing messages – also proved to be a fruitful
route to…
