Here we go again, it seems. No matter how irate you may be a patient’s bad review and no matter how unfair you think it may be, no, you cannot just reveal their protected health information without their consent – even if they revealed some of it themselves. Patrick Danner reports: A San Antonio doctor…
TX: Email gaffe revealed 1,417 cancer patients’ email addresses
Cindy George reports: A “carbon copy” email sent last week from the Houston Methodist Cancer Center to patients showed the addresses of all recipients, potentially revealing their identities to the public and their association with the treatment facility. Patients were alerted about the issue by Houston Methodist in a letter dated March 16 and sent…
FBI agent took down teen hacker by pretending to be a reporter – and media didn’t like that
Raphael Satter of AP reports: The young hacker was told in no uncertain terms: You are safe with me. “I am not trying to find out your true identity,” AP journalist Norm Weatherill assured the teenager in an online chat. “As a member of the Press, I would rather not know who you are as…
15 computers with ‘sensitive information’ stolen from Chief Justice Mogoeng’s office
Nic Andersen reports: In our country at the moment, you blink once and there is another crisis. This evening, shocking details have emerged of a very suspicious break-in at the offices of Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng. In the early hours of Saturday morning 15 computers were stolen, in South Africa that may sound normal to you, wait…
Oh those inadequately secured backup devices…
While I’ve been busy tracking W-2 phishing scams, let’s not lose sight of the fact that there are other ways for criminals to obtain W-2 or tax information, and that human error continues to turn assets into low-hanging fruit. Interpreters Unlimited recently notified the Vermont Attorney General’s Office that the contents of an employee’s backup device were…
Lane Community College notifies health clinic patients of potential breach
Dylan Darling reports: A virus-infected computer at the Lane Community College health clinic may have relayed patient information — names, addresses, Social Security numbers and more — to an unknown third party for more than a year, the college said Friday. LCC said it has sent letters warning 2,500 patients whose information may have been…