• Blog
  • Services
    • PHIshMD Ongoing Training
    • HIPAA Compliance
    • Discover Vulnerabilities to Patient PHI
  • Store
    • HIPAA Secure Now Service Store
  • Contact Us
    • Sales Inquiry
    • Customer Support
  • Resources
    • Free Healthcare Security Check Up Quiz
    • HIPAA Compliance Requirements | A Guide
    • Webinars & Downloadable Content
    • Use our free Breach Cost Calculator
    • HIPAA Secured Seal
    • In-Email Training & Analysis | Catch Phish

Call us at: 877-275-4545

Client or Partner? Login here
HIPAA Secure Now!HIPAA Secure Now!
  • Blog
  • Services
    • PHIshMD Ongoing Training
    • HIPAA Compliance
    • Discover Vulnerabilities to Patient PHI
  • Store
    • HIPAA Secure Now Service Store
  • Contact Us
    • Sales Inquiry
    • Customer Support
  • Resources
    • Free Healthcare Security Check Up Quiz
    • HIPAA Compliance Requirements | A Guide
    • Webinars & Downloadable Content
    • Use our free Breach Cost Calculator
    • HIPAA Secured Seal
    • In-Email Training & Analysis | Catch Phish

Ransomware Attack on Urology Austin

March 30, 2017 Posted by Art Gross HIPAA, HIPAA Violations, Security Training No Comments

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 on the attack.

Due to rapid detection of the ransomware attack, which occurred on January 22, 2017, limited damage was caused.

Within minutes of the attack, the computer network was shut down to prevent the spread of the infection and potential access/exfiltration of PHI.”

Although the attack was quickly detected, the data being stored on the organization’s server was encrypted.

Ransomware often blindly encrypts data. The attacks are intended to cause major disruption to patient services to force an organization into paying a ransom demand to obtain a key to unlock the encryption. Data are not accessed or stolen by the attackers.”

Typically, in the case of a ransomware attack the misuse of a patient’s PHI is low. In this instance, Urology Austin chose to provide the patients who were notified of the breach with identity theft monitoring services to help them feel more comfortable and confident that their information is safe following the attack.

In order to prevent a similar occurrence in the future, Urology Austin has taken steps to mitigate their risks, including updating system backups and improving network security.

In the breach notice submitted to the California attorney general’s office, Urology Austin provided details on how the ransomware attack occurred and indicated that employees were retrained on how to spot suspicious emails as well as patient’s privacy and security practices. With this statement, we can gather that the ransomware attack likely occurred as a result of an employee error involving a malicious email, a favored method for cybercriminals to install ransomware.

[divider_line] [framed_box bgColor=”#ffd390″]

 

Free HIPAA Security Training!


All Covered Entities and Business Associates need to train their employees on HIPAA security. Our training not only focuses on HIPAA regulations, but concentrates on the risk of data breaches. We emphasize the dangers of phishing emails, phishing websites and ransomware. We teach employees how to spot phishing emails and how ransomware attacks a network so they can avoid being a victim.

Click below to watch a short video on the dangers of ransomware and the need to train employees

[tvideo type=”youtube” clip_id=”Z_YwViNg0ZY” autoplay=”false”]

Now it is easy to train your employees on protecting patient information!


[/framed_box]
Tags: Breachransomware
No Comments
Share
0

You also might be interested in

Fear and destroy USB drives!

Fear and destroy USB drives!

Apr 8, 2011

In what appears to be a reoccurring story, another hospital[...]

Dropbox is not HIPAA compliant

Apr 29, 2011

An article over at KevinMD.com on using Dropbox to store[...]

5 easy steps to protecting patient data

May 1, 2011

Medical practices are not only tasked with protecting their patient’s[...]

Leave a Reply Cancel Reply

Recent Posts

  • HIPAA Security Policies
  • Restructuring the OCR
  • HIPAA: P for Portability
  • OCR Healthcare Report Released
  • HIPAA Compliance & Cybersecurity: How They Differ

Recent Comments

  • Milan on PHI or PII – What’s the Difference?
  • Automatic Backlinks on Free HIPAA Security Training!
  • Lisa Porter on Free HIPAA Security Training!
  • Roseanne ruiz on Health Apps & HIPAA
  • Roseanne ruiz on PHI or PII – What’s the Difference?

Archives

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011

Categories

  • Backup & Disaster Recovery
  • Business Associates
  • Client News
  • Download
  • Healthcare Industry
  • HIPAA
  • HIPAA Audits
  • HIPAA Violations
  • HSN News
  • Legal
  • MACRA
  • Policies and Procedures
  • Press Release
  • Remote Workforce
  • Risk Assessment
  • Scams
  • Security
  • Security Reminders
  • Security Training
  • Telehealth
  • Uncategorized
  • Webinar
  • Website

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Contact Us

  • HIPAA Secure Now
  • 55 Madison Ave, Suite 400 Morristown, NJ 07960
  • (877) 275 - 4545
  • info@hipaasecurenow.com

Find us on Social Media

Recent Posts

  • HIPAA Security Policies March 21, 2023
  • Restructuring the OCR March 14, 2023
  • HIPAA: P for Portability March 7, 2023
  • OCR Healthcare Report Released February 28, 2023
  • HIPAA Compliance & Cybersecurity: How They Differ February 21, 2023

Subscribe to our Newsletter

  • Hidden

© 2023 · HIPAA Secure Now!

Prev Next