Rob Moore reports: A ransomware attack on City of Cornelia’s computerized billing system last week resulted in a day of lost productivity, but city leaders are taking steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again. “We did not get to the point of like Atlanta where they actually held us [for] ransom,” City Manager Donald Anderson…
Category: U.S.
Defense Department to tighten data security after settlement with veterans group
Military Times reports: The Defense Department will revamp its Servicemembers Civil Relief Act databases following charges the online information sites exposed millions of troops’ and veterans’ personal information to identity thieves and scammers, officials announced Thursday. Leaders from Vietnam Veterans of America, which filed a lawsuit against the department to force the changes, called the move an important…
WA: Tukwila School District victim of a phishing scam
KING5 News reports: The Tukwila School District is the apparent victim of a “phishing scam,” district officials said in a statement Tuesday. “We are not at liberty to reveal additional information at this time but are working closely with proper authorities,” the statement read. Read more on KING5.
3 Hospitals in Alabama Forced to Turn Patients Away After Ransomware Attack
Kate Reilly reports: Three hospitals in Alabama remained closed Wednesday “to all but the most critical new patients” due to a ransomware attack that disrupted medical care. “A criminal is limiting our ability to use our computer systems in exchange for an as-yet unknown payment,” the DCH Health System said in a statement on Tuesday. “Our hospitals have implemented…
Dental Practice Pays $10,000 to Settle Social Media Disclosures of Patients’ Protected Health Information
HHS OCR has announced another settlement of a HIPAA complaint: Elite Dental Associates, Dallas (“Elite”) has agreed to pay $10,000 to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and to adopt a corrective action plan to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act…
IN: Goshen Health notifies patients potentially impacted by 2018 data security breach
Sometimes, an incident that doesn’t appear to require notification may require notification under HIPAA. In an August, 2018 incident reported on The Elkhart Truth that involved Goshen Health, the health system originally determined that no notification was required, but when forensic investigators came in months later and looked for any information that might have been…