Final answer:
Data breaches of PHI are often caused by hackers exploiting system vulnerabilities, with consequences ranging from identity theft to national security threats. Organizations must take immediate action after breaches and implement preventative measures. Factors such as cognitive effort and human error can impact the efficacy of threat detection.
Step-by-step explanation:
A common reason for data breaches of Personal Health Information (PHI) involves the compromise of website security by hackers. These threat actors target vulnerabilities within systems to gain unauthorized access to sensitive data.
Organizations are mandated to protect PHI under regulations such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Despite these measures, data breaches occur due to various reasons, including sophisticated phishing attacks, weak passwords, insufficient network security, and sometimes human error such as misjudgment by security personnel, as indicated in the Target data breach incident of 2013. The consequences of these breaches are severe, ranging from identity theft to financial and national security threats.
Businesses, organizations, and medical systems are responsible for taking immediate action after a breach is detected to mitigate damages and to follow legal and regulatory obligations concerning the breach. Preventative measures include regular security training for employees, applying software updates and patches, employing strong authentication processes, and continuous monitoring of the security infrastructure. Cognitive effort and the human factor in identifying and responding to security threats play a crucial role, as excessive cognitive demand can lead to mistakes in detecting genuine threats.