Hacking Healthcare: The Top 5 Healthcare Data Breaches of the 1990s

The healthcare industry has long been a prime target for cybercriminals, and the 1990s were no exception. As technology advanced and more patient data became digitized, the risk of healthcare data breaches steadily increased. Here are the top five healthcare data breaches that occurred in the 1990s:

• Veterans Affairs Data Theft 2006

  In 2006, a Veterans Affairs employee's laptop and external hard drive containing the personal information of over 26 million veterans were stolen from his home. This was one of the largest healthcare data breaches in US history at the time.

• UCLA Health System Breach 2011

  In 2011, the UCLA Health System reported that the personal and medical information of over 16,000 patients had been accessed without authorization by former employees.

• Sutter Health Breach 2011

  In 2011, Sutter Health, a not-for-profit health system in Northern California, reported that the personal information of over 4 million patients had been compromised when a desktop computer was stolen from an administrative office.

• Stanford Hospital & Clinics Breach 2010

  In 2010, a webpage containing the personal information of over 20,000 emergency room patients at Stanford Hospital & Clinics was inadvertently made publicly accessible online.

• Lifespan Breach 2017

  In 2017, Rhode Island-based healthcare system Lifespan reported that the personal information of over 20,000 patients had been accessed without authorization by a former employee.

These breaches demonstrate the importance of robust cybersecurity measures in the healthcare industry to protect sensitive patient data. As technology continues to evolve, healthcare organizations must remain vigilant in their efforts to safeguard against data breaches and cyber threats.