DataBreaches.Net

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

Inadequate security measures: the Guarantor sanctions an ASL. The healthcare facility had suffered a ransomware attack

Posted on October 27, 2023 by Dissent

The following is a Google machine translation of a post by Italy’s data protection regulator.  It strikes me yet again how entities covered by the GDPR get fined for poor or inadequate security practices that should — but generally do not — incur monetary penalties here:

Sanction by the Privacy Guarantor of 30,000 euros to a Neapolitan local health authority for failing to adequately protect the personal data and health data of 842,000 patients and employees from hacker attacks.

The healthcare facility had suffered a ransomware attack which, through a virus, had limited access to the healthcare facility’s database and requested a ransom to restore the functioning of the systems.

As required by the legislation on the protection of personal data, the ASL had communicated the data breach to the Guarantor who immediately opened an investigation into the incident to verify the technical and organizational measures adopted by the ASL both before and after the attack right away.

Several important critical issues were identified by the Guarantor following the inspection activity, such as the failure to adopt adequate measures to promptly detect the violation of personal data and to guarantee the security of the networks, also in violation of the principle of data protection by design (privacy by design). Access to the network via VPN took place through an authentication procedure based only on the use of username and password. Furthermore, the lack of network segmentation had caused the virus to spread throughout the entire IT infrastructure.

In sanctioning the offense, the Guarantor took into account the fact that the data breach concerned data suitable for collecting information on the health of a very significant number of interested parties, but also the unintentional and collaborative attitude of the Local Health Authority. After the incident, the company adopted a series of measures aimed not only at mitigating the damage suffered by the interested parties, but also at reducing the replicability of the event itself, including the activation of a network access procedure via VPN with double factor authentication.

 


No related posts.

Category: Commentaries and AnalysesHealth DataMalwareNon-U.S.

Post navigation

← Hackers escalate: leak 200k CCSD students’ data; claim to still have access to CCSD email system
Six months after data security incident, Fredericksburg Foot & Ankle Center notifies patients (1) →

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

  • McDonald’s McHire leak involving ‘123456’ admin password exposes 64 million applicant chat records
  • Qilin claims attack on Accu Reference Medical Laboratory. It wasn’t the lab’s first data breach.
  • Louis Vuitton hit by data breach in Türkiye, over 140,000 users exposed; UK customers also affected (1)
  • Infosys McCamish Systems Enters Consent Order with Vermont DFR Over Cyber Incident
  • Obligations under Canada’s data breach notification law
  • German court offers EUR 5000 compensation for data breaches caused by Meta
  • Air Force Employee Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Disclose Unlawfully Classified National Defense Information
  • UK police arrest four in connection with M&S, Co-op and Harrods cyberattacks (1)
  • At U.S. request, France jails Russian basketball player Daniil Kasatkin on suspicion of ransomware conspiracy
  • Avantic Medical Lab hacked; patient data leaked by Everest Group

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

  • DeleteMyInfo Wins 2025 Digital Privacy Excellence Award from Internet Safety Council
  • TikTok Loses First Appeal Against £12.7M ICO Fine, Faces Second Investigation by DPC
  • German court offers EUR 5000 compensation for data breaches caused by Meta
  • How to Build on Washington’s “My Health, My Data” Act
  • Department of Justice Subpoenas Doctors and Clinics Involved in Performing Transgender Medical Procedures on Children
  • Google Settles Privacy Class Action Over Period Tracking App
  • ICE Is Searching a Massive Insurance and Medical Bill Database to Find Deportation Targets

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.