Cybersecurity

More than 620,000 patients of Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health had their data breached in the recent ransomware attack on the nation's second-largest nonprofit health system, according to a report to the HHS Office of Civil Rights.

Conway (Ark.) Regional Medical Center will pay $295,000 to settle a lawsuit regarding a June 26, 2019, data breach in which patient information was compromised due to a phishing attack, Top Class Actions reported Dec. 7. 

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI released a joint cybersecurity advisory Dec. 1 to warn about a Cuba ransomware threat targeting the healthcare sector. 

Attleboro, Mass.-based Sturdy Memorial Hospital has settled a lawsuit for a Feb. 9, 2021, data breach that compromised the protected health information of 60,000 current and former patients, Top Class Actions reported Dec. 5.  

James Noga, the former vice president and CIO of Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham, has been named to the advisory board of healthcare cybersecurity vendor Censinet.

Hospitals and health systems are facing significant data security and privacy threats due to the lack of vetting of their third-party vendors, BankInfoSecurity reported Dec. 5. 

Silverdale, Wash.-based St. Michael Medical Center experienced an October ransomware attack that exacerbated the hospital's short staffing issues that have been persisting for months, Kitsap Sun reported Dec. 2. 

An employee email account from Orlando (Fla.) Health was accessed by an unauthorized user, which may have compromised the information of 3,662 patients. 

TechShielder, a cybersecurity and technology review company, on Dec. 5 provided Becker's with a list of the most cybersecurity-conscious states, revealing California in the top spot.

In 2023, healthcare organizations will see some of the most "catastrophic" cybersecurity attacks due to constraints on resources needed to implement better security, SC Media reported Dec. 2.