Some rural Louisiana parish officials who received federally protected information on COVID-19 cases from the state's health department misused the sensitive data and violated HIPAA, the health department said in a report in The Advocate.
Cybersecurity
In July, 23 organizations reported to HHS a collective total of 1,101,829 individuals being affected by data breaches.
The FBI issued a warning July 28 about increasing Netwalker ransomware attacks, specifically targeting U.S. and foreign health agencies, private companies and governments.
Despite its push to advance health IT data sharing with HHS' new interoperability rules, the U.S. still has work to do regarding data security and privacy, according to National Coordinator for Health IT Don Rucker, MD.
Watertown, N.Y.-based Samaritan Medical Center has been using paper records for the past week as the hospital investigates a malware attack that began on July 25, according to a report from NNY 360, powered by Watertown Daily Times and Northern…
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Philips reported a possible security vulnerability with its DreamMapper software.
Royal Oak, Mich.-based Beaumont Health reported information about thousands of patients was potentially exposed during a phishing scam earlier this year, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Hospitals and clinics continued to rack up the highest average data breach costs in 2020 at $7.13 million, up 10 percent since last year, according to IBM Security's July 29 report.
Watertown, N.Y.-based Samaritan Medical Center reported its computer system went offline on July 25, according to a local News 7 report.
Providence, R.I.-based Lifespan will settle a potential HIPAA violation related to a stolen laptop for just over $1 million, according to an HHS news release.