HIPAA data breaches can occur if ePHI (electronic protected health information) is posted on an open web site. In that situation, not only is the ePHI available for viewing, it also can be indexed by an Internet search engine such as Google. Many data breaches have been uncovered by finding the unauthorized ePHI via...
In a recent report conducted by the American International Group (AIG), experts were asked a broad, but valid question; “is cyber risk systematic?” Looking at recent events, AIG indicated that cyber risk is in fact systemic, predicting an event much like the global ransomware attack, “WannaCry” that took the world by storm earlier this month....
As you may be aware, a global ransomware attack, called WannaCry, started on Friday May 12, 2017 and is continuing as of today. The attack has affected 200,000 Microsoft Windows based machines in over 150 countries. The cybercriminals have focused on healthcare and financial services but have affected many other industries and individuals as well....
George DeCesare, Chief Technology Risk Officer for Kaiser Permanente, met with the Health and Human Services Department as well as other security experts and came away with some shocking truth. An article on Healthcare IT News provides some great insight on why falling below the cybersecurity poverty line could be detrimental to health organizations. Seventy-five...
Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Community Health Centers (CHCs) and related entities are non-profit organizations that run on shoestring budgets. These organizations are constantly in search of revenue, grants and donations to keep their operations running. Therefore, any type of adverse financial event will be devastating. However, these organizations also must comply with relevant regulations,...
When you think of being a patient in the hospital, the last thing you may think about is the safety of your personal data. According to research findings by Michigan State University, the security of your personal information in U.S. hospitals is something to be concerned over. An article on UPI explores the study, showing...
You know ransomware is a real threat when it starts showing up on TV shows. Chicago Med is a victim of a ransomware attack on the hospital. It is time to be concerned in real life! [tvideo type=”youtube” clip_id=”LOQfWaKOSnU”]
A total of 279,663 patients are being notified by Urology Austin that their protected health information (PHI) may have been compromised in a ransomware attack. Information that may have been compromised in the attack includes patient names, addresses, dates of birth, medical records and social security numbers. An article over on HIPAA Journal provides insight...
A warning issued by the FBI cautions healthcare providers to beware of threat actors, who are now targeting anonymous File Transfer Protocol Servers (FTP), associated with both medical and dental organizations. An article on Dark Reading goes into great detail about the trouble with anonymous FTP servers and why it is important to turn yours...
Deven McGraw, deputy director of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights has announced that the department’s plans for initiating onsite audits is currently on hold and will remain so until more than 200 desk audits have been completed. An article over on Data Breach Today gives us great detail on...
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