Why cyberattacks targeting pharma are ramping up

Cyberattacks targeting the pharma industry have ramped up during the pandemic, and insider threats and nation-state attacks are on the rise. Meanwhile, the average cost of a pharma breach in 2021 is $5.04 million, according to the IBM-sponsored Ponemon Institute’s Cost of a Data Breach Report. For context, an average data breach incurs damages of $4.24 million.

Pharmaceutical companies are beginning to allocate more resources to cybersecurity, according to Howard Ting, CEO of data detection and response business Cyberhaven (Palo Alto, Calif.).

Pharma companies’ data is increasingly decentralized

The traditional model for protecting sensitive data was to create the networking equivalent to a castle and moat. But in the pharmaceutical industry and elsewhere, sensitive data can no longer be stored under lock and key. Pharmaceutical companies’ data must “move and be shared,” Ting said. For example, a contract manufacturer might need access to sensitive data. …

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