Cybersecurity

Companies are experiencing a continuous cycle of cyberattacks — and executives are saying enough is enough, according to a June 2 article in The Wall Street Journal.

Chicago-based Swedish Hospital, part of NorthShore University HealthSystem, began notifying 4,206 patients that their data has been breached after a hacker gained access to a physician's email.

San Diego-based Scripps Health is notifying more than 147,000 individuals that their protected health information was exposed during a malware attack on its information systems last month, according to a June 1 KNSD report. 

The Baltimore-based University of Maryland added 30,468 patients to the tally of people affected by the Accellion data breach.

Hoboken (N.J.) Radiology began notifying patients May 28 that their protected health information was vulnerable to unauthorized access for about a year and a half. 

Sturdy Memorial Hospital began notifying patients May 28 that some of their protected health information had been stolen by hackers, prompting the Attleboro, Mass.-based hospital to pay a ransom to stop the data from being redistributed. 

Spikes in data breaches and ransomware attacks have served as a wake-up call for many companies to bulk up their cybersecurity teams, causing shortages nationwide, according to a May 28 CNN article. 

Scripps Health's Epic EHR system and online patient portal were restored May 27, nearly four weeks after a ransomware attack knocked the San Diego-based health system's network offline, The San Diego-Union Tribune reported. 

Pennsylvania's National Guard will take over COVID-19 contact tracing for the state after the health department fired its vendor over a data breach, according to a May 27 article published by local CBS affiliate KDKA.

In May, 35 organizations reported to HHS that 2,690,944 individuals were affected by data breaches.