The Federal Trade Commission today announced it has finalized changes to the Health Breach Notification Rule (HBNR) that will strengthen and modernize the rule by clarifying its applicability to health apps and other similar technologies and expanding the information that covered entities must provide to consumers when notifying them of a breach of their health…
Category: U.S.
Judge Advises Dismissal of CommonSpirit Breach Lawsuit
Marianne Kolbasuk McGee reports: A second federal judge has recommended the dismissal of a second proposed class action lawsuit against Catholic hospital chain CommonSpirit over a 2022 cyberattack and data breach that affected nearly 624,000 people. Both judges said the plaintiffs failed to show how they were harmed by the breach. U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan…
Kaiser to notify millions of a data breach after sharing patients’ data with advertisers
Zack Whittaker reports: U.S. health conglomerate Kaiser is notifying millions of current and former members of a data breach after confirming it shared patients’ information with third-party advertisers, including Google, Microsoft and X (formerly Twitter). In a statement shared wcith TechCrunch, Kaiser said that it conducted an investigation that found “certain online technologies, previously installed…
Two ransomware attacks in 2023 first disclosed in April — Kisco Senior Living, Blackstone Valley Community Health Care (1)
Two more ransomware incidents that occurred in 2023 were disclosed this week. One was disclosed 10 months after the incident, and the other was disclosed 5 months after the incident. Kisco Senior Living On or about June 15, 2023, BlackByte claimed responsibility for a ransomware attack on Kisco. This week, Kisco filed a notification with…
Cyberattack on Change Healthcare has scammers targeting Nebraska patients
Abigail Carrera reports: A recent cyberattack on Change Healthcare has resulted in scammers targeting Nebraska patients. Bryan Health has received multiple reports of scammers reaching out to patients claiming to be representatives from hospitals across Nebraska and surrounding areas. Scammers are reportedly telling patients they’re entitled to a full refund if they provide them with a credit…
Valley Mountain Regional Center discloses a breach, but are patients still in the dark? (1)
In November 2021, Valley Mountain Regional Center (VMRC) notified HHS that multiple employees were the victims of a phishing scheme that compromised the protected health information (PHI) of 17,197 individuals. They notified HHS, affected individuals, media, and provided substitute notice. HHS reports, “In its mitigation efforts, the Business Associate strengthened its technical safeguards to better…