Nearly 50 million people in the U.S. had sensitive personal health data breached in 2021, a threefold increase over the last three years, according to a POLITICO analysis of the latest HHS data.

Experts say the increase in hacking is in part due to the health care industry’s rapid move to digital records — particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, an increase in remote work leading to attacks on employees using personal devices, and financially lucrative health care data. Ben Leonard reports.