Quiz: How tight is your cybersecurity?

Cybercrime is no longer an abstract, big-city problem that happens to someone else’s hospital. From single-doctor offices to multistate groups, medical practices have become prime targets for hackers who see patient data as fast cash on the dark web. Email phishing schemes slip past busy inboxes, unpatched servers invite ransomware and stolen credentials open back doors into electronic health records. The financial stakes are steep: The average health-care data breach now tops $10 million, and regulators can levy six-figure penalties for preventable lapses. The clinical toll is even higher. Downtime forces postponed surgeries, delays prescriptions and, in the worst cases, risks patients’ lives.

Yet many practices still rely on outdated passwords, generic administrator logins and a once-a-year security reminder tacked onto the staff meeting agenda. The gap between perceived safety and real-world exposure has never been wider, and the odds favor the attacker.

This 15-question multiple-choice quiz offers a quick, evidence-based gut check on the fundamentals every practice should have in place. The questions draw on federal guidance, recent breach investigations and front-line lessons from clinics that learned the hard way.