Let’s not forget the physical threats to protected health information. This news report about a fire in Hillsdale, New York destroying the Hillsdale Healthcare medical practice should give you pause. Is this scenario anywhere in your risk assessment? Heather Bellow reports on the damage to a strip mall from the fire, but I’m going to…
Swiss info security body warns of ransomware attacks against businesses
Maria Nikolova reports: Switzerland’s Reporting and Analysis Centre for Information Assurance (MELANI) today issued a warning regarding a high number of ransomware attacks against Swiss businesses over the past weeks. In recent weeks, MELANI / GovCERT has dealt with more than a dozen ransomware cases in which unknown perpetrators encrypted the systems of Swiss SMEs and…
Protenus releases its analysis of 2019 health data breaches
Protenus’s 2020 BreachBarometer is now available for free downloading. From their highlights: Our analysis is based on 572 health data breaches reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the media, or some other source during 2019 (Figure 1). As in years past, we do not have numbers for every incident in…
FL: NCH Healthcare (finally) sends breach notification letters for June, 2019 breach
In August, 2019, this site reported on an incident at NCH Healthcare in Florida. At the time, it was not clear whether patient data was impacted in the phishing incident. The entity had become aware of suspicious activity on June 14, but by mid-August, there was no report on HHS’s public breach or detailed disclosure….
Information about 69,000 Phoenix pay system victims sent in error
Catharine Tunney reports: More than 69,000 public servants caught up in the Phoenix pay system debacle are now victims of a privacy breach after their personal information was accidentally emailed to the wrong people, says Public Services and Procurement Canada. The problem-plagued electronic payroll system has improperly paid tens of thousands of public servants since its launch…
NY: East House Provides Notice Of Data Privacy Event
East House is a private, nonprofit agency in Rochester, New York that serves individuals with persistent mental illness and/or substance use disorder. Yesterday, they issued a press release about a breach: ROCHESTER, N.Y., Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Although unaware of any actual or attempted misuse, East House is providing notice of a data privacy event impacting the…