Netwrix Reveals Significant Security Risks in Healthcare Industry

FRISCO, Texas, Sept. 30, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- Netwrix, a leader in identity and data security, has released findings from its 2026 Data and Identity Security Report, revealing significant security risks in the healthcare sector. According to the report, 31% of healthcare organizations experienced unauthorized identities accessing sensitive data in the past year, a figure that is 7 percentage points higher than the 24% reported in other industries.

Among those that experienced an incident, 33% reported costs above $250,000, compared to 21% in other industries. Healthcare organizations also ranked lowest among 16 industries for confidence in their Active Directory (AD) environments being free of privilege escalation risks. Specifically, 86% of healthcare organizations lacked full confidence in their AD security, while only 14% were fully confident, a stark contrast to the 26% across all industries.

Jeff Warren, Chief Product Officer at Netwrix, highlighted the challenges healthcare organizations face.

The report also found that AI and automation have increased identity-related risks to sensitive data. Seventy-nine percent of healthcare organizations said their non-human identities are not fully governed, and 75% reported that AI and automation have increased these risks over the past two years. Additionally, 70% of healthcare organizations said their data access governance is behind the speed of AI adoption.

Darryl Baker, a Senior Staff Security Researcher at Netwrix, emphasized the need for proactive measures.

The research is based on a global survey of 2,317 security professionals conducted in early 2026. The report benchmarked 1,889 organizations across more than 60 industries and 12 security dimensions. The healthcare findings are based on 145 healthcare respondents, primarily in the United States. The research also noted that healthcare organizations are not alone in facing these challenges, as 77% of them cannot immediately determine who has access to a specific piece of sensitive data.

Netwrix's 1Secure™ platform unifies identity and data security to provide complete visibility into where data lives, who can access it, and how it's governed. With a 95% customer satisfaction rating, Netwrix offers flexible delivery models that are quick to deploy, easy to use, and built to scale for organizations of all sizes. More than 13,000 customers, including nearly 25% of the Fortune 500, rely on Netwrix solutions across hybrid and AI-driven environments.