An Idaho man who worked as an Information Technology Specialist for Ada County by day has been sentenced to prison for hacking medical offices and threatening his victims if they didn’t pay his ransom demands. Background of the Case In July 2017, DataBreaches reported a hacking incident with a ransom demand where the description of…
Introduction: The malicious use of artificial intelligence has created new types of security threat for both individuals and the healthcare sector. Although artificial intelligence is a fundamental technology of our age, it has enabled the creation of new types of large-scale cyberthreat, and artificial intelligence-based cybercrime has grown rapidly worldwide. Medical data are a prime…
In March 2024, LockBit3.0 added Redwood Coast Regional Center (RCRC) to its leak site. On May 3, RCRC notified HHS of the March 6 incident, reporting that 500 patients had been affected. RCRC only recently updated that report to indicate that 24,937 patients were affected. On or about November 5, they began mailing out letters…
A recent article on the cybersecurity risks posed by mergers and acquisitions begins: When companies merge, it creates significant cybersecurity challenges in two main ways: firstly, challenges arise in integrating disparate security infrastructures, and secondly, an M&A transaction brings together diverse organizational cultures which presents its own challenges from a cyber perspective. Yet the limited…
In July 2021, Chelan Douglas Health District in Washington experienced a data breach. They disclosed the breach to the public in March 2022, surprisingly patting themselves on the back for completing their investigation in 6-7 months. A number of media reports indicate that the breach reportedly affected almost 109,000 patients, but the breach was reported…
HHS OCR announced a second ransomware investigation settlement today. This one involved Bryan County Ambulance Authority (BCAA), a provider of emergency medical services in Oklahoma. The Bryan County Ambulance Authority breach occurred in November 2021, but was only first reported to HHS on May 18, 2022. It affected 14,273 patients. HHS’s press release (below) notes…