Cybersecurity

May 7 was World Password Day, celebrated as a reminder to strengthen online passwords.

The U.S. Department for Homeland Security and the U.K. National Cyber Security Centre are warning hospitals and healthcare organizations that there could be an increase in cyberattacks targeting them to gain COVID-19 patient data.

Hartford, Conn.-based Saint Francis Healthcare Partners notified patients of an email hacking incident that affected 38,529 patients, according to HHS.

Two plastic surgery providers were recent targets of a ransomware attack that led to patients' information being posted online, according to a Cointelegraph report.

Ransomware attacks on hospitals and health systems have continued during the pandemic, raising key cybersecurity considerations about infrastructure disruptions and COVID-19 test data integrity, according to security expert Jeff Tully, MD.

St. Louis-based BJC HealthCare reported an employee email breach on May 5 that may have exposed patient information.

Ann and Robert Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago reported that an employee viewed more than 4,800 patient medical records without a work-related reason, according to a notice posted May 4 on its website.

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the already complex healthcare delivery system, requiring IT teams to focus on bolstering their hospital's response.

EHR vendors and hospitals must team up to improve the availability and setup of proxy accounts within patient portals in order to ensure patient health information remains private and secure, according to a recent JAMA Internal Medicine study. 

There have been 28 data breach incidents reported in 2020 so far, including email hacking incidents, malware attacks and unauthorized access to EHRs, according to HHS.