Seventy-eight percent of dental practices are at high risk for security vulnerabilities, with the most common issue a lack of encryption of backup drives or devices, according to Medix Dental IT, which says it has conducted a first-of-its-kind cybersecurity assessment of more than 150 general dentistry, oral surgery, and other specialty practices.
“It’s virtually impossible to solve a problem you aren’t conscious of,” said Tom Terronez, CEO of Medix Dental IT. “As a dental IT solutions company, we want to not only spread awareness of these potential dangers and educate dental offices on the simple steps they can take to protect patient data.”
Medix Dental IT also found that:
- 97% of dental offices are at risk for HIPAA violations
- Nearly two out of three practices with security vulnerabilities believed the vendor they had contracted to address cybersecurity was adequately doing so.
- One in three practices lacks adequate backup protection.
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