Andrew Blake reports: Felony hacking charges were handed down Wednesday to a Massachusetts man accused of disrupting the computer networks of Boston-area hospitals with a 2014 digital protest waged under the name of hacktivist group Anonymous. Martin Gottesfeld, 32, was indicted by a grand jury Wednesday on one count each of computer hacking and conspiracy…
Category: Health Data
Lincoln health center warning patients of data breach, fired worker
Nick Sambides Jr. reports: Health Access Network is warning “a very small number” of its 17,000 patients to beware of identity theft after firing a new employee for improperly accessing patient clinical information, its CEO said Wednesday. The federally funded community health center contacted the U.S. attorney general’s office and the Department of Justice on…
Ca: Hacking attempt made at Vernon doctor’s office
The Vernon Morning Star reports an attempted ransomware attack on the office of Dr. Larrie Mandreck. [The office] was alerted on Sept. 24 to a remote hacking attempt during which unauthorized access was briefly obtained to the local computer system. Information that is contained in the patient files could include, name, date of birth, email address,…
NZ: Nurse suspended after snooping through 64 patients records
Rachel Thomas reports: A nurse who snooped through more than 1000 private health records has admitted her actions have eroded public trust in the health system. In a charge brought by the Nursing Council’s Professional Conduct Committee (PCC), the nurse was alleged to have accessed health records “without justification or authorisation” when she worked at an unnamed district health board. She…
IL: Mercy Hospital & Medical Center notifies patients after billing service loses 547 patients’ documents
From their substitute notice: On August 15, 2016, Mercy Hospital & Medical Center discovered that some medical billing information for a total of 547 patients was potentially exposed as a result of a third-party billing service’s loss of Mercy’s documents from their offices. The information exposure occurred on August 15, 2016. We have taken the necessary…
$2.14 million HIPAA settlement underscores importance of enterprise-wide risk analysis
St. Joseph Health (SJH) has agreed to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules following the report that files containing electronic protected health information (ePHI) were publicly accessible through internet search engines from 2011 until 2012. SJH, a nonprofit integrated Catholic health care delivery…