(The Center Square) \u2014 A new study found Georgia has experienced 160 medical records breaches since 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Comparitech analyzed data from 2009 to July 2023 and found Georgia\u2019s breaches affected more than 7.3 million records. That amounts to 68,907 records affected per 100,000 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs we are seeing, legislating against things like ransomware attacks is difficult,\u201d Rebecca Moody, Comparitech\u2019s head of data research<\/strong><\/a>, told The Center Square in an email. \u201cSome states are starting to introduce legislation which prevents certain entities from paying ransoms (North Carolina and Florida prevent government entities from paying ransoms, for example).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd while organizations should be applauded for not entering into negotiations with hackers, this does often leave data vulnerable to exploitation,\u201d Moody added. \u201cAs hackers increasingly target organizations with greater volumes of sensitive data (something medical organizations have in troves), ransoms aren\u2019t the only potential financial gain for them. Selling huge volumes of data is arguably more fruitful as they can\u2019t always guarantee a ransom but they can always sell the data.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Internet security has been a hot-button topic. In June, for example, state Sen. Jason Anavitarte, R-Dallas, said Georgia needs to create a state information security command, an action that should be hastened<\/strong><\/a>following a Russian online security attack that hit the University System of Georgia and several federal agencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n