Medical Records Are the Hot New Dark Web Commodity

January 10, 2017

From emails to Netflix and Uber account information to other personally identifiable information has long been for sale on the Dark Web. A recent article from Fast Company, On The Dark Web, Medical Records Are A Hot Commodity, shares that medical records are the latest offerings for sale on the Dark Web. Medical records sold in these marketplaces usually include an individual’s name, birthdate, social security number and medical information. They fetch the relatively high price of $60 a piece, in comparison to social security numbers at $15. The article explains more,

On the dark web, medical records draw a far higher price than credit cards. Hackers are well aware that it’s simple enough to cancel a credit card, but to change a social security number is no easy feat. Banks have taken some major steps to crack down on identity theft. But hospitals, which have only transitioned en masse from paper-based to digital systems in the past decade, have far fewer security protections in place.

Cybercrime of medical records is potentially life-threatening because oftentimes during the theft of medical records, data showing allergies and other vital information is erased or swapped. Hopefully, the amount of time it took the medical industry to transition from paper to electronic health records is not representative of the time it will take the industry to increase security measures.

Megan Feil, January 10, 2017

Comments

One Response to “Medical Records Are the Hot New Dark Web Commodity”

  1. Marjorie Defenbaugh on February 5th, 2017 12:02 am

    i don’t believe any of these women…they’re all playing the Hillary pay to play game…..I dont care how many women come out..my vote is for Mr Trump 100

  • Archives

  • Recent Posts

  • Meta