The Department of Energy hack noted previously on this blog may be part of a larger and longer campaign against government agencies by members of Anonymous who exploited an Adobe vulnerability. At least that’s what an FBI memo seen by Reuters seems to suggest: The hackers exploited a flaw in Adobe Systems Inc’s software to…
And yet 9 more breaches added to HHS's breach tool (Update2)
HHS added 9 more breach reports to its public breach tool yesterday. Here’s a recap of the ones we already knew about: The UnityPoint Health breach was added to the list, although the third party company that provided the employee to UnityPoint was not disclosed in their report. In a statement sent to PHIprivacy.net today,…
Everywhere I look/listen, there's a HIPAA breach
Maybe I should start a column just about the “small” HIPAA breaches I seem to trip over on a too-frequent basis. Today’s entry occurred in the waiting area of an outpatient endoscopy/colonoscopy service. I was sitting and chatting with another woman as we waited for our respective spouses. Out came a doctor, who walked up…
Rape trial evidence battle yields small victory for victims
Jill Burke reports: The trial of an Anchorage man accused of sexual assault has forced the Alaska courts to address a challenging question: Should a victim’s private medical and mental health records be fair game? At stake is the proper balance in Alaska between a crime victim’s right to privacy and a criminal defendant’s right to…
Women charged in cancer center identity thefts
Vivian Ho reports: Two women were charged with identity theft for allegedly stealing mail and personal information from patients at an Alta Bates Summit Medical Center breast cancer center in Alameda County, Santa Clara County prosecutors said Wednesday. Salina Soriano, 37, of San Jose, and Regina Kennedy, 36, a transient, are accused of using the…
A follow-up on the case of the dentist convicted of improperly accessing prescription monitoring database: the dentist responds
On October 16, PHIprivacy.net published a post concerning Dr. Fred S. Glick, a dentist in Ohio who pleaded guilty to misusing the state’s prescription monitoring database. In that post, I included statements from the patient whose data were accessed, but had not been able to reach Dr. Glick to get a statement from him. As…