How many patient data breaches can a covered entity have before HHS OCR opens a serious investigation into their compliance with the HIPAA Security Rule? According to DataBreaches’ count, UT Southwestern Medical Center in Texas has disclosed at least four breaches since July 2023. As a brief recap of the first three: In July 2023,…
Category: Commentaries and Analyses
Is KillSec3 Trying to Extort Victims Using Publicly Leaked Data?
KillSec3 is a ransomware group, but is it really encrypting its victims these days? Recent data suggests that its affiliate(s) may be trying to extort victims using data that has already been publicly leaked. The following was researched and written by Dissent Doe, JayeLTee, and a third researcher who prefers to remain in the shadows….
Anna Jaques Hospital notifies 316,300 people about 2023 ransomware attack
On Christmas, December 2023, Anna Jaques Hospital (AJH) in Massachusetts was grappling with a cyberattack that knocked out their EHR system and resulted in them having to divert ambulances to other area hospitals. On January 23, they posted a preliminary website notice (archived) about the attack. That notice was posted four days after threat actors…
HHS OCR Imposes a $548,265 Penalty Against Children’s Hospital Colorado for HIPAA Violations
Not all monetary penalties are for breaches affecting large numbers of patients. In this case, HHS imposed a penalty on an entity that had breaches in both 2017 and 2020. DataBreaches notes that the 2017 incident affected 3,370 patients, and the 2020 incident affected 2,553 patients — as reported to HHS at the time. Today,…
Express Services disclosed a data breach. One month later, they learned they had a second data security problem.
Express Employment Professionals (“Express Pros“) describes itself as a leading staffing agency in the U.S., “specializing in matching job seekers with the best jobs for their skills and experience.” Express Pros is the flagship brand for Express Services and conducts business across the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. Express Pros operates as…
Recent Texas Case Highlights Increasing Relevance of Privacy and Security Laws to E-Discovery Process
Of note from Hunton Andrews Kurth: On November 6, 2024, a Texas state district court jury found that a large e-discovery vendor violated Title 7, Chapter 33 of the Texas Penal Code, which provides that accessing a computer without its owner’s permission is a Class B misdemeanor. This case highlights the importance for e-discovery vendors…