Andrew Lupton reports: Ontario’s information and privacy commissioner is investigating after a clear plastic bag containing documents with patient names and medication information was left at the curb outside a London walk-in clinic. One patient whose information was in the bag said she’s furious the papers weren’t shredded. Read more on CBC.
Category: Health Data
Healthcare Organizations, Is Your Patient Portal Secure?
Michael R. Bertoncini and Valerie Jackson of JacksonLewis write: … 2019 has seen record numbers of patient records being breached. Halfway through 2019, around 25 million patient records have been breached, eclipsing the number of patient records breached in all of 2018 by over 66%. In this environment where hackers find patient records a valuable…
How 4 IT technicians saved an Arizona hospital from ransomware
Jeanette Hinkle of the Arizona Republic reports: Mike Nelson often comes to work early, around 6 a.m., so it was Nelson who first discovered the message. Nelson, an information-technology technician for Wickenburg Community Hospital, found it glowing on a computer screen in the emergency department. In Times New Roman font was the word “Ryuk.” In the bottom left corner of the…
Protest data breaches threaten HK’s hub ambitions
The Macau Daily Times reports: Hong Kong’s ambitions to be an international data-center hub are a potential casualty of the city’s mass protests. […] Last month, dozens of protesters were arrested after being treated in the emergency ward of a public hospital following battles with riot police. The city’s Hospital Authority subsequently denied leaking patient…
Puerto Rico: Two hospitals report ransomware incident potentially affecting more than 520,000 patients
Add Bayamón Medical Center and its affiliated Puerto Rico Women And Children’s Hospital to the list of ransomware victims. On July 19, the hospitals notified HHS and the public of a “recent” security incident that resulted in files being encrypted. No details were provided as to when this occurred, whether the hospitals paid any ransom, and…
KY: Park DuValle health center pays $70,000 ransom for patient records in cyberattack
Chris Otts reports on one of my nightmares that became a reality for a Kentucky center: Park DuValle Community Health Center, a nonprofit that runs medical clinics for low-income and uninsured patients in western Louisville and other areas, has paid hackers nearly $70,000 in hopes of unlocking the medical records of some 20,000 patients that…