DataBreaches.Net

Menu
  • About
  • Breach Notification Laws
  • Privacy Policy
  • Transparency Report
Menu

“We take your privacy seriously….” Thursday edition.

Posted on October 22, 2020 by Dissent

I’ve been reading some other sites’ coverage of the Pfizer leak that was discovered by vpnMentor and shared exclusively with DataBreaches.net.  The incident involved a misconfigured cloud storage bucket that exposed hundreds of consumer/patient reports to Pfizer on a reporting line for drug safety concerns or other concerns. As such, it contained a lot of what would be protected health information if that program was covered by HIPAA, which it is not.

As DataBreaches.net reported, Pfizer gave a fairly standard statement about how they responded to notification, but when this site pushed them on vpnMentor’s report about how difficult it was to get Pfizer to respond and lock down the data, Pfizer simply said they disagreed with the report and characterization and wouldn’t say anything else.

And that response is concerning. If Pfizer was as concerned as they claimed, why didn’t they ask for more details so they could investigate vpnMentor’s claims?  Why didn’t they get in touch with vpnMentor to review things?

Simply claiming you disagree with a characterization and chronology is not convincing.

A commenter in a report by Emma Cooper on Pharmafield today really nails the concerns people might have about this particular incident:

Sam Curry, chief security officer at Cybereason, added: “What the recent Pfizer data breach tells us is that it is extremely difficult for even the largest companies in the world to secure their data every hour, every day and every week. It’s irrelevant whether an internal or external error led to this data breach, because the digital footprint for enterprises is expanding at such a rapid pace that errors will occur and data will be exposed. However, it is incumbent upon Pfizer to continue to do everything humanly possible to protect its IP, customer and partner data and all proprietary information. In this case, Pfizer can’t play the victim card as there certainly aren’t any customers interested in hearing excuses. What they want is transparency and guarantees that the company will continue to make sure data protection is their top priority. Let this be another wake up call for all companies to improve their security, use threat hunting services to discover malicious operations quickly so that hackers are stopped in their tracks before material damage occurs.”

This blogger agrees with Curry. Even large corporations can have difficulty and errors in data security. But it’s their response to those situations that will either inspire trust and confidence or not. Incident response matters.  A lot.  It includes entities providing and monitoring a clear way to alert them if a leak or breach or a vulnerability is detected. It also includes saying, “We don’t think we made a mistake, but tell us more so we can look into it.”

Related posts:

  • Misconfigured cloud storage bucket exposed Pfizer drug safety-related reports — researchers
  • TeamGhostShell posts “master list” of 548 leaks (so far)
Category: Commentaries and AnalysesHealth Data

Post navigation

← Ensuring Transparency: Language to Avoid in HIPAA Breach Notifications
Sopra Steria falls victim to ransomware attack →

Now more than ever

"Stand with Ukraine:" above raised hands. The illustration is in blue and yellow, the colors of Ukraine's flag.

Search

Browse by Categories

Recent Posts

  • Alert: Scattered Spider has added North American airline and transportation organizations to their target list
  • Northern Light Health patients affected by security incident at Compumedics; 10 healthcare entities affected
  • Privacy commissioner reviewing reported Ontario Health atHome data breach
  • CMS warns Medicare providers of fraud scheme
  • Ex-student charged with wave of cyber attacks on Sydney uni
  • Detaining Hackers Before the Crime? Tamil Nadu’s Supreme Court Approves Preventive Custody for Cyber Offenders
  • Potential Cyberattack Scrambles Columbia University Computer Systems
  • 222,000 customer records allegedly from Manhattan Parking Group leaked
  • Breaches have consequences (sometimes) (1)
  • Kansas City Man Pleads Guilty for Hacking a Non-Profit

No, You Can’t Buy a Post or an Interview

This site does not accept sponsored posts or link-back arrangements. Inquiries about either are ignored.

And despite what some trolls may try to claim: DataBreaches has never accepted even one dime to interview or report on anyone. Nor will DataBreaches ever pay anyone for data or to interview them.

Want to Get Our RSS Feed?

Grab it here:

https://databreaches.net/feed/

RSS Recent Posts on PogoWasRight.org

  • Germany Wants Apple, Google to Remove DeepSeek From Their App Stores
  • Supreme Court upholds Texas law requiring age verification on porn sites
  • Justices nix Medicaid ‘right’ to choose doctor, defunding Planned Parenthood in South Carolina
  • European Commission publishes its plan to enable more effective law enforcement access to data
  • Sacred Secrets: The Biblical Case for Privacy and Data Protection
  • Microsoft’s Departing Privacy Chief Calls for Regulator Outreach
  • Nestle USA Settles Suit Over Job-Application Medical Questions

Have a News Tip?

Email: Tips[at]DataBreaches.net

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

Contact Me

Email: info[at]databreaches.net

Mastodon: Infosec.Exchange/@PogoWasRight

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

DMCA Concern: dmca[at]databreaches.net
© 2009 – 2025 DataBreaches.net and DataBreaches LLC. All rights reserved.