Proactive Defense: Client-Side Protection Safeguards Healthcare Data

Healthcare organizations ushered in the new year with the stark realization that healthcare data breaches were rampant in 2024. New Year’s resolution or not, the time to strengthen client-side protection against data loss, security vulnerabilities, and malicious threats is now.

The data doesn’t lie; 2024 marked a record-breaking year for healthcare-related data breaches in the U.S. and globally. According to information shared by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights, by December 20, 2024, there had been 677 major healthcare data breaches affecting more than 182.4 million people in that year alone. Hacking and IT incidents represented the most significant type of attack, and client-side threats can allow attackers to steal sensitive medical data, leading to potentially larger attacks, privacy violations, and financial losses.

Recent data shows that third-party tracking technology is present on nearly 99% of “hospital websites, which includes transfers to large tech companies, social media companies, advertising firms, and data brokers.” 

The omnipresence of these technologies demands the healthcare industry proactively protect patient data, mitigate data leakage, and prevent bad actors from executing malicious code by injecting scripts or manipulating application functionality on the client side. 

Identifying Client-Side Vulnerabilities for Healthcare Data

When discussing threats to data integrity, it is often assumed that a bad actor is actively working to compromise systems to gain access to valuable data. It is a fair assumption. However, with the way third-party vendor services operate, sensitive user data can be unwittingly exposed to unauthorized access due to third-party tags (or scripts) being present on the website pages where they should be restricted. And in many scenarios, that is the case. However, some third-party tagging technologies can unwittingly expose sensitive user data to unauthorized third parties.

Take data leakage, for instance. Data leakage via third-party tags happens when an organization inadvertently gives access to sensitive user information by allowing third-party tags to "roam" the website freely, including login and payment data forms. Vulnerabilities in third-party vendor software or misconfigurations can lead to unauthorized access to customer, patient, or user data.

When a website integrates code from a third-party ad network, analytics platform, or other service, the code may unintentionally collect and transmit user data, like browsing history, demographics, or even personal details such as date of birth or social security numbers, with unauthorized third parties. Even when small, these data leaks could lead to significant consequences such as legal issues, identity theft, financial loss, and disruption to operations. With multiple tags from various sources running on websites, the risk of data leakage grows exponentially.

Another more intentional threat is digital skimming. Digital skimming is a fraudulent process of capturing and transferring payment card data. It involves bad actors injecting malicious code into third-party scripts on a website. The code then skims the credit card data when entered into payment forms. 

Because hackers continuously look for vulnerabilities to exploit, client-side vulnerabilities can be especially appealing. By exploiting weaknesses in the applications the end user is actively using, attackers cannot only steal data on a client device but also install malware and gain unauthorized access to systems. 

Hackers target client-side vulnerabilities because they are less secure and give them direct access to user data such as login credentials or credit card details. The client-side also represents a much wider attack surface to hackers because of the number of applications and browser extensions running on an end-user device. Hackers also depend on users not being current with software updates, leaving known vulnerabilities open to attacks.

For healthcare organizations, all of this will negatively impact patient care and a slew of other potential risks. The adverse outcomes of client-side data breaches run the gamut of:

• Disruption of patient care: When healthcare data are compromised, it can lead to delays in treatment, difficulty accessing records, and disruption of essential medical procedures.

• Data breaches: Hackers exploit vulnerabilities in web applications to steal sensitive data such as diagnoses, prescriptions, and insurance details—which can lead to privacy violations, identity theft, and potential lawsuits and settlements.

• Digital skimming attacks: Bad actors use the lack of visibility into third-party scripts on websites to introduce malicious code into the patient’s browser, primarily to steal cardholder data. 

• Phishing attacks: Attackers create a fake or mirrored website hosted on a fraudulent URL to trick end users into divulging personal and sensitive information.

• Reputation damage: A data breach can significantly damage a healthcare organization's reputation, which could ultimately lead to lost patient trust and business. 

Tracking Codes and Compliance

While common across websites, third-party tracking codes must follow different rules on healthcare provider sites. 

Healthcare websites utilize third-party trackers to improve provider services, but the same technology becomes a risk vector when unauthorized data is shared with technology providers. Examples of third-party tags include Meta pixel, Google Analytics, LinkedIn Insights, Snapchat pixel, TikTok pixel, Twitter conversion tracking, and other custom tracking pixel tags implemented by a third-party ad network or marketing platform. 

These code snippets utilize cookies, web beacons or pixel tags, and other tracking technologies to identify users across different websites. The data collected can help healthcare providers gain insights into patient behavior, identify trends in health needs, optimize website usability, and deliver more personalized and proactive care. Problems arise with third-party tracking technologies when patient privacy is put at risk, and those collecting the data potentially misuse sensitive health information. A lack of transparency regarding how data is collected and utilized could also put healthcare providers in a precarious compliance situation. 

Guidance from the U.S. HHS’ Office for Civil Rights details how HIPAA-regulated organizations must have a business associate agreement (BAA) in place with the provider of the code or authorization from patients—or be found in violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. And while the guidance is clear, a recent analysis of healthcare websites found that one-third of those websites analyzed still use Meta Pixel tracking code—even with the risk of repercussions such as “lawsuits, data breaches, and fines for non-compliance with the HIPAA Rules.” 

For instance, Novant Health settled a $6.6 million pixel privacy breach lawsuit in January 2024. The Lawsuit involved pixel code that collected personally identifiable information on their patient portal, intending to improve care with virtual visits. In this case, the tracking pixels also transferred the data of more than 1.3 million individuals to third-party technology companies that were not authorized to receive the data. 

Closing the Loop on Client-side Threats

Fortunately, healthcare organizations can follow key security steps to keep this year’s resolution and protect their end users on the client side.

To safeguard against client-side attacks, healthcare organizations can implement strict access controls, deploy robust endpoint protections, conduct regular security audits, protect mobile devices, limit network access, educate employees on cybersecurity best practices, and more. Client-side protection platforms offer healthcare providers an additional required layer of security against hackers and data leakage by protecting end users when interacting with websites and applications in a few critical ways.

Managing Script Inventory

By automatically identifying all third-party vendors and scripts present on each web page, script inventory management allows users to maintain a real-time list of all scripts running on their website—including third-party tags. This provides visibility into potential security risks and helps ensure organizations stay compliant with regulations such as PCI DSS. Client-side protection platforms act as a comprehensive script tracking system by identifying and managing potentially unauthorized scripts on payment pages. 

Blocking Access to Data

By identifying and limiting third-party vendors’ access to forms and data input into those forms, client-side protections such as form fencing allow clients to control which scripts can read and access form data. These platforms offer powerful and granular rules engines that give healthcare organizations full control of each script running on their website. 

Controlling Data Exfiltration

By setting specific rules for how third-party tags interact with data, protection platforms can restrict access to sensitive information and prevent unauthorized data transfer.

Stopping Formjacking and Magecart Attacks

By monitoring and security forms on healthcare websites, client-side protection can stop attackers from capturing sensitive data such as healthcare interests searched by patients. Client-side protection can also prevent Magecart attacks, which target e-commerce sites by injecting malicious code into checkout pages and allowing threat actors to skim user card details in the HTML form. 

Detecting Threats and Data Leakage in Real Time

By continuously monitoring end-user sessions, client-side platforms can identify suspicious activity, quickly intervene, and mitigate threats. For instance, client-side protection platforms can identify potential data leaks by analyzing how third-party tags interact with sensitive data on a website.

Complying with Standards & Regulations

By providing additional protections on the client side, healthcare organizations can adhere to data privacy regulations like HIPAA and PCI DSS v4 when accepting payments on their websites. 

Jscrambler provides even more protection against client-side data leakage and attacks from which healthcare providers can benefit. 

• Comprehensive: Jscrambler is the only client-side security and compliance platform to natively combine first-party JavaScript obfuscation with third-party tag protection. Jscrambler’s Code Integrity obscures JavaScript code used in healthcare, making it difficult for hackers to understand and exploit vulnerabilities to steal patient data. Jcrambler’s Webpage Integrity blocks unauthorized behavior and offers protection against data breaches, form jacking, web skimming attacks, and data exfiltration.
  
  

• Fine-Grained Control: Employ fine-grained rules for managing forms and sensitive data. Our solution provides real-time detection and response capabilities, issuing alerts for suspected fraudulent or risky activities.
  
  

• Top-Notch Performance: Jscrambler is designed to effortlessly scale to support the largest and most demanding websites without causing any slowdown or disruption to the online user experience.
  
  

• Sweeping Client-Side Security & Compliance Policy:  Jscrambler is unique in its ability to support the formulation by all involved teams (product management, software development, security, digital, marketing, as well as governance, risk, and compliance) of a centralized security policy encompassing all client-side related risks and regulatory compliance requirements. The policy is sweeping, comprehensive, fine-grained, company-wide, and future-proof. Out of the box, businesses can comply with one or several security standards, including HIPAA, PCI DSS v4, PSD3, and others. 
  
  

• Trusted Expertise: Jscrambler helps its clients succeed in using its industry-leading platform at every step. For third-party tags, skilled consultants are available to guide them in setting up the best risk mitigation strategies, including suitable data fencing tactics. Jscrambler also offers Managed Services for PCI DSS v4 Compliance (requirements 6.4.3 and 11.6.1) so that security teams don’t have to orchestrate script authorizations or have compliance concerns. 

Learn more about how Jscrambler can mitigate the risk of client-side attacks for healthcare organizations.