Cybersecurity

Hospitals are the most common violators of HIPAA privacy regulations, followed by private practices, outpatient facilities, pharmacies and health plans, according to a March 3 report from the American Medical Association.

Microsoft alerted customers March 3 of previously unknown security flaws within its Microsoft Exchange email server, which a Chinese hacking group has been targeting to steal user data. 

Geisinger alerted patients of a new scam in which fraudulent callers reach out to the Danville, Pa.-based health system's patients posing as COVID-19 vaccine schedulers. 

Petersburg (Alaska) Medical Center recently notified patients that a hospital employee had wrongfully viewed their medical records, Petersburg-based community radio station KFSK reports. 

Hospitals are increasingly becoming victims of cyberattacks as the workforce sees major changes amid the pandemic. 

The National Security Agency has released guidance on the zero-trust security model with recommendations to implement zero trust within networks. The zero-trust security model is a coordinated system strategy that assumes breaches are inevitable or have already occurred.

Hackers recently broke into Oxford University's biochemical systems and COVID-19 research and offered the information online for sale, according to a Feb. 25 Forbes report. 

King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services lost $67 million from a malware attack last year, which caused patients to go elsewhere for care and incurred expenses to restore its operating and IT systems, according to a Feb. 26 Wall…

Elgin, N.D.-based Jacobson Memorial Hospital and Care Center informed 1,547 patients of a data breach in a Feb. 23 notice.

In February, 22 organizations reported to HHS that 351,709 individuals were affected by data breaches.