Cybersecurity

Saint Alphonsus Health System and Saint Agnes Medical Center, both part of Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health, confirmed March 4 that a recent email hacking incident has exposed some patients' personal information. 

Asheville, N.C.-based Allergy Partners began bringing most of its computer systems back online March 1 following a February ransomware attack on the medical practice, local ABC affiliate WLOS reports. 

Data breaches in the healthcare industry are spiking, and so are reports analyzing them. Here are the biggest takeaways from five reports Becker's has covered recently.

AllyAlign Health confirmed in a notice sent to patients that an unauthorized party gained access to their computer network and planted ransomware last year.

A January ransomware attack on an Arizona eye clinic encrypted data files on its patient scheduling and billing software and in some cases deleted patient information, according to the clinic's online breach notice. 

Hackers recently stole and published online sensitive employee files from Gallup, N.M.-based Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services after inflicting ransomware on its computer network earlier this year, according to a March 3 NBC News report. 

With cyberattacks escalating in the healthcare industry, about 20 percent of Americans have a healthcare provider that has been affected by cyberattacks in the last year. Consumers said this could influence them to change providers, a March 3 Morphisec report…

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.