The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has announced its fourth cybersecurity investigation and settlement, noting a 264% increase in significant ransomware breaches since 2018. A recent settlement with a medium-sized healthcare provider involved a $250,000 payment and commitments to enhance the security of Protected Health Information (PHI). This investigation and settlement underscore the critical need
ransomware
Hospital Mergers Double the Risk of a Data Breach, Study Shows
By Joseph J. Lazzarotti on
Posted in Healthcare
The healthcare sector is a prime target for data breaches. According to a summary by the HIPAA Journal, 32% of all data breaches between 2015 and 2022 were in the healthcare sector, “almost double the number recorded in the financial and manufacturing sectors.” Industry analysts cite to many reasons for this, including the sensitivity…
FDA Names First Acting Director of Medical Device Cybersecurity
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Posted in Privacy
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) named University of Michigan Associate Professor Kevin Fu Acting Director of Medical Device Security in its Center for Devices and Radiological Health. This is a newly created 12-month post in which Fu will “work to bridge the gap between medicine and computer science and help manufacturers protect…
Federal Agencies Issue Joint Alert on Imminent Cybercrime Threat to Healthcare Providers
By Jason C. Gavejian on
Posted in Policies
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have issued a joint cybersecurity advisory stating they have credible information of an increased and imminent cybercrime threat to U.S. hospitals and healthcare providers.
The advisory describes the tactics, techniques, and procedures…
Hacked Healthcare Provider Refuses to Pay Ransom, Attackers Target Psychotherapy Patients
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Healthcare providers continue to be targeted by ransomware attackers. According to reports, a healthcare provider in Finland was hacked and the attackers demanded 40 bitcoins (or about $525,000) on the threat of public disclosure of patient psychotherapy records. Businesses in the US hearing these facts might be thinking of the recent advisory issued by…
Cybercriminals Often Target Healthcare Providers with Ransomware Attacks
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had issued guidance on ransomware attack prevention and recovery from a healthcare sector perspective in July 2016. The importance of these measures was highlighted by the recent worldwide ransomware, “WannaCry,” attack that caused major disruption to the United Kingdom’s National Health Service and cancellation of operations. Learn…