Windows XP, IE, and Flash Usage Blamed for Poor Security of Healthcare Sector

The company compared statistics from its long list of clients from various sectors and noticed a series of oddities that can explain why healthcare organizations are currently facing data breaches and ransomware infections on a daily basis.

The statistic that stood out was the usage of Flash and Java in healthcare organizations. While in other sectors Flash was installed on 25 percent of all devices, in healthcare organizations Flash was found on 52 percent of all computers. The same discrepancy was noticed in Java usage, with regular industries deploying it on 12 percent of its PCs, while the healthcare sector was using it on 36 percent of computers.

Both Flash and Java are the favorite targets of exploit kits, who often update their crimeware kits within days after a Flash or Java flaw becomes public.

Internet Explorer? Really?

But the oddities didn't stop here, and Duo Security researchers also observed that most healthcare organizations are running Internet Explorer 11 than they are running the most recent versions of Google Chrome. In fact, IE 11 was found running on 33 percent of healthcare organizations' PCs, while Chrome 48 only on 28 percent of computers.

Breaking down IE usage overall, Duo Security experts also noticed that out of all the Internet Explorer browsers running in the healthcare sector, 22 percent of users were using an outdated version, compared to the six percent seen in other industries.

You can still find a lot of hospitals and clinics running good ol' XP

The whole healthcare sector has an unquenchable love for Microsoft products overall, with 82 percent of all devices running a Windows OS.

While Microsoft released Windows 10 last summer, offering it as a free upgrade to all Windows 7 and 8 users, only ten percent of healthcare computers are running this OS version today, compared to the 15 percent in other industries.

Even worse, three percent of healthcare organizations are still running XP, a Windows version that Microsoft officially retired in 2014. The Royal Melbourne Hospital ran Windows XP computers until this past January when a malware infection brought the hospital operations to its knees.

Using XP, and for that matter, even Windows 7, is a dangerous endeavor. With XP reaching end of life and Windows 7 on its last leg, its time for healthcare organizations to start moving their PCs to more modern-day OS distributions.

Browser usage in healthcare sector