From the Information and Privacy Commissioner for Nova Scotia: HALIFAX – Three separate breaches of sensitive mental health information have led Nova Scotia’s Information and Privacy Commissioner, Catherine Tully, to call for improvements in how the health system transmits personal health information. In a new report issued today, the Office of the Information and Privacy…
Category: Health Data
Command Marketing Innovations Reports Printing Error Impacting Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey Members
The vendor involved in the recent breach reported on this site involving Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey has now issued its own press release: GARFIELD, N.J., Nov. 23, 2016 — Command Marketing Innovations (CMI), a vendor performing print work for Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (Horizon BCBSNJ), announced today that on November 2, 2016, it…
Hospital-targeting Locky ransomware ups attack methods
Jessica Davis reports: In February, Locky was found in the wild, wreaking havoc on networks. And despite the drop in the frequency of ransomware attacks in recent months and increase of decryption tools for strains like Crysis, Locky is upping the ante on its attack method. The latest ransomware downloader uses the AESIR-file extension. It…
UMass settles potential HIPAA violations following 2013 malware infection
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) has agreed to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules. The settlement includes a corrective action plan and a monetary payment of $650,000, which is reflective of the fact that the University operated at a financial loss in…
Former Owner of Florida Pharmacy Convicted at Trial of $700,000 Medicare Fraud Scheme
More medical identity theft for fraud: The former owner of a Miami based retail pharmacy was convicted, following a three-day trial, for his participation in a scheme that involved the fraudulent submission of approximately $700,000 dollars in false billing to Medicare. Andres Alfonso, 54, of Miami, was convicted of three substantive counts of health care…
Wentworth-Douglass reports insider breach at business associate, Ambucor (UPDATE5)
First it was Carolina Cardiology Consultants disclosing that 2500 of their patients had been affected by a breach at their business associate, Ambucor. Then it was Lebanon Cardiology Associates, PC (now known as WellSpan Cardiology) notifying HHS that 537 of their patients had been affected by Ambucor’s incident. Now it’s Wentworth-Douglass Hospital notifying 775 of their patients of the breach….