Regulation of data breach publication: the case of US healthcare and the HITECH act

Data breaches continue to plague most industries but especially the healthcare sector. While previous studies have aimed at assessing the financial implications arising from data breaches, none of them focused on the healthcare sector. This study of market reactions following data breaches fills that gap. Federal disclosure requirements of data breaches within the healthcare sector allow for our comprehensive study. Using multivariate regression analysis, our findings show the high specificity with which investors react to the announcement of data breaches.