Today, CISA released the Mitigation Guide: Healthcare and Public Health (HPH) Sector as a supplemental companion to the HPH Cyber Risk Summary, published July 19, 2023. This guide provides defensive mitigation strategy recommendations and best practices to combat pervasive cyber threats affecting this critical infrastructure sector. It also identifies known vulnerabilities for organizations to assess their…
Category: HIPAA
Cyber incident shuts down Otsego Memorial Hospital computers
Mardi Link reports: Munson Healthcare officials are investigating a cyber incident at Otsego Memorial Hospital in Gaylord, that in October prompted a shutdown of the hospital’s computer system. Munson Healthcare acquired Otsego Memorial in 2018 and a Munson spokesperson said the shutdown was limited to Gaylord only, and officials have no reason to believe patient…
HHS announces its first settlement in a ransomware case: Doctors’ Management Services
From HHS, this interesting press announcement: Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced a settlement under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) with Doctors’ Management Services, a Massachusetts medical management company that provides a variety of services, including medical billing and payor credentialing. The…
OCR Releases Cybersecurity Video: How the HIPAA Security Rule Can Help Defend Against Cyber-Attacks
In recognition of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, OCR has produced a new video this October for organizations covered under the HIPAA Rules on how the HIPAA Security Rule can help regulated entities defend against cyber-attacks. The video is available in English and Spanish. This presentation is intended to educate the health care industry on real…
October 31: OCR Webinar on The HIPAA Security Rule Risk Analysis Requirement
From HHS OCR: OCR Webinar on The HIPAA Security Rule Risk Analysis Requirement Threats and vulnerabilities to electronic protected health information (ePHI) in today’s healthcare environment are numerous and varied. ePHI is under constant threat from malicious insiders selling PHI for financial gain, sophisticated hackers seeking to compromise healthcare systems and blackmail them with ransomware,…
HIPAA requires employers to sanction employees who violate HIPAA. Did you know that?
From HHS’s October cybersecurity newsletter: Last year, the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center (HC3) released a threat brief on the different types of social engineering1 that hackers use to gain access to healthcare information systems and data.2 The threat brief recommended several protective measures to combat social engineering, one of…