Sarah Hall reports: Hospital records containing highly confidential information about vulnerable patients have been found outside a city supermarket by a member of the public. Personal and clinical details of 11 elderly patients at the new rehabilitation unit at Norwich Community Hospital were on the ward handover sheets, which pass on key health needs of…
Pointer: More Answers About Law Amending HIPAA Rules
Donna Vanderpool, M.B.A., J.D., assistant vice president, risk management, at Professional Risk Management Services Inc. (PRMS), has an article in the January 15th issue of Psychiatric News (Volume 45, Number 2, Page 9), “More Answers About Law Amending HIPAA Rules.” The article is available free in full-text version online.
Hundreds of Network Solutions Sites Hacked
Brian Krebs writes: Web site domain registrar and hosting provider Network Solutions acknowledged Tuesday that hackers had broken into its servers and defaced hundreds of customer Web sites. The hackers appear to have replaced each site’s home page with anti-Israeli sentiments and pictures of masked militants and armed with rocket launchers and rifles, along with…
UK: Computer virus shuts down Exeter University system (updated)
From ThisisExeter: The entire computer network at Exeter University had to be closed down after a it was hit by a virus attack. Hundreds of computers were taken off-line and lecturers were forced to give up their hi-tech teaching and return to using chalk and blackboards. It meant that there was no access to email,…
UK: Patient notes sent to wrong address
A farmer was left “horrified” when personal and intimate details of a potentially fatal pregnancy complication for another woman were dropped through her letterbox. Kay Ashton, 54, said she was “completely bewildered” as to how confidential patient notes from Derriford Hospital’s accident and emergency department, which were meant for a doctor, were sent to her…
Security researcher IDs China link in Google hack
Robert McMillan reports: The malicious software used to steal information from companies such as Google contains code that links it to China, a security researcher said Tuesday After examining the back-door Hydraq Trojan used in the hack, SecureWorks researcher Joe Stewart found that it used an unusual algorithm to check for data corruption when it…