Molly Callahan reports: Boston University’s renowned Framingham Heart Study (FHS) was breached by hackers, who gained access to the data of participants—both living and deceased—of the country’s longest running, multigenerational heart study. BU officials say the hackers gained access to the study’s server, but that information technology specialists from BU and FHS were able to…
Category: U.S.
Rhode Island Residents’ Data Breached in Large Cyberattack; Data May Be Leaked Soon
Aimee Ortiz reports: The personal and private information of possibly hundreds of thousands of people who applied for government assistance in Rhode Island could be in the hands of hackers after a huge cyberattack, state officials said on Friday. The cybercriminals said to be behind the attack threatened to release the data unless they received…
Minnesota schools must report cybersecurity incidents under new law
Anna Merod reports: Dive Brief: Minnesota public school districts, charter schools and colleges must now report cybersecurity incidents such as ransomware or network attacks under a newly enacted state law. The information that schools report to Minnesota will not be shared publicly, unlike with similar statewide data breach reporting requirements in California and Maine. Instead, the information will be anonymized…
Wyden seeks stricter telecom cyber standards following Salt Typhoon breach
Martin Matishak reports: Sen. Ron Wyden on Tuesday unveiled legislation that would require the Federal Communications Commission to set cybersecurity standards for telecom companies, as the policymakers grapple with the ongoing breach of U.S. phone networks by Chinese hackers. The draft measure from the Oregon Democrat comes days after Senate lawmakers received a classified briefing about the wide-scale…
Hudson Valley Health Care Facility Operator Fined $1.4M for Failing to Protect Patient Data; $850,000 suspended
Once again, we see a state attorney general taking data protection enforcement action against a healthcare entity when HHS hasn’t. The incident referred to below was reported to HHS’s public breach tool in December 2023, but there is no notation that any HHS investigation into it has been closed. From the NYS Attorney General’s Office,…
Watsonville Community Hospital still dealing with November cyberattack
Watsonville Community Hospital in California is continuing to work through what they refer to as a cyberattack on November 29. The hospital’s network has been offline since then with staff reverting to “downtime” procedures using paper. The hospital has been able to continue to provide emergency, inpatient, and outpatient care but alerts patients that there…