Cybersecurity

A database containing medical records of almost 200,000 U.S. military veterans was recently discovered to have been exposed online by a vendor contracted by the Veterans Administration, according to a May 11 Threat Post report.

The California Department of State Hospitals recently discovered additional protected health information that had been improperly accessed through an employee data breach, according to a May 11 news release. 

Scripps Health CEO Chris Van Gorder thanked all employees and physicians of the San Diego-based health system May 10 in an internal memo addressing the May 1 cyberattack that forced the hospital to shut down its IT systems. 

The hack on Colonial Pipeline Co. over the weekend has underscored the threats that ransomware attacks are posing across several industries, including hospitals and health systems, according to a May 10 WTVD report. 

Below are seven hospitals and health systems that posted job listings seeking chief information security officers in the last month.

A lawsuit requesting class-action status alleges the Pennsylvania Department of Health and its contact tracing vendor failed to provide adequate cybersecurity measures to protect residents' protected health information.

As Scripps Health continues to recover from a May 1 malware attack, nearby health systems including UC San Diego Health and Sharp HealthCare have seen an increase in patient volumes amid the San Diego-based system's IT downtime, KNSD reports. 

Gainesville-based University of Florida Health Shands recently began notifying 1,562 patients that a former employee wrongfully accessed their protected health information during a two-year period, according to a May 7 news release.

In 2021, 30 hospitals and health systems have reported to HHS that they were hit by data breaches.

The Biden administration and Congress are gearing up to confront ransomware attacks on hospitals as the federal government increases its involvement in cybersecurity, according to a May 5 report by The Hill.