Here’s yet another ransomware incident in which investigators couldn’t really determine whether ePHI were actually accessed, so the entity notified HHS and is notifying patients. In this case, we are dealing with what could be treatment information for more stigmatizing conditions such as alcoholism or addiction. According to their report to HHS, 25,148 patients are…
Month: May 2019
Why Rewards for Loyal Spenders Are ‘a Honey Pot for Hackers’
Tiffany Hsu reports: The punch cards stuffed in your wallet know next to nothing about you, except maybe how many frozen yogurts you still need to buy to get a free one. But loyalty programs, as they shift from paper and plastic to apps and websites, are increasingly tracking a currency that can be more…
Independent Health mistakenly emailed information on 7,600 members
Tracey Drury reports: Protected health information on more than 7,600 Independent Health members was accidentally emailed to a member in March, a breach that violates federal privacy laws. The Amherst-based health plan told members that an employee inadvertently emailed documents containing their information on March 19 to an unauthorized recipient who happened to be an…
TX: UMC Physicians Notifies Patients of Compromised Patient Data
Press Release: UMC Physicians (UMCP) is educating employees on approved cloud storage solutions and notifying patients of an incident that may have compromised the privacy of protected health information held by their clinic: UMC Southwest Gastroenterology. UMCP has no evidence of actual or attempted misuse of personal information at this time. On March 12, 2019,…
NY: Episcopal Health Services – Notice of Data Privacy Event
A press release issued today. On September 18, 2018 Episcopal Health Services became aware of suspicious activity in employee email accounts. We immediately began an investigation to determine what happened and what information may have been affected. With the assistance of third-party forensic investigators, we determined that certain employee email accounts were subject to unauthorized access between…
NY: Gates Chili student arrested, charged with hacking into former superintendent’s email
WHAM reports: A student in the Gates Chili Central School District is being charged as an adult after allegedly hacking into the account of the former superintendent. Ajay Bhattacharyya, 17, was arraigned Friday evening on eight felony counts: Two counts of computer trespass, two counts of identity theft and four counts of falsifying business records….