"But personal health records carry a different kind of value for more sophisticated attackers. Information about someone’s personal or family health history could be used for blackmail or phishing, or help an adversary masquerade as someone else."

The Cybersecurity 202: Why cybersecurity experts are so concerned about the health-care industry

The health-care sector makes an appealing target for hackers for a few reasons, according to Brown. For one, hospitals and insurers keep troves of data that are easy for a cybercriminal to monetize — such as billing and insurance information. The biggest risks to most patients are identity theft and fraud.

But personal health records carry a different kind of value for more sophisticated attackers. Information about someone’s personal or family health history could be used for blackmail or phishing, or help an adversary masquerade as someone else. State-sponsored attackers could use such details for intelligence purposes, according to Brown.

“Any information they can get on someone they’ve targeted is useful little pieces that become valuable, even if they’re not monetizable,” she said.