Cybersecurity

Ransomware attacks and other cybersecurity incidents can cause smaller hospitals and medical centers to shut its doors because these providers lack to resources to recover, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The University of Alabama Birmingham Medicine has alerted 19,557 patients that their information may have been exposed in a phishing attack, according to ABC3340.

Tuscaloosa, Ala.-based DCH Health System announced Oct. 5 that it had paid hackers an undisclosed ransom to restore access to locked systems at its three hospitals.

The level of transparency and the details at which hospitals, health systems and other businesses report cybersecurity incidents varies greatly, according to an Oct. 3 Moody's Investors Service report.

Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente began issuing notices Sept. 27 to 990 Sacramento-area patients that their information may have been exposed, according to local news station ABC10.

In healthcare, it's not a question of whether criminals will try to steal revenue cycle data, but when: This year alone, approximately one-third of healthcare providers have had payments data stolen, up from 25 percent in 2018, according to Mahala…

Although hospitals and health system are no more likely to be hit by a ransomware attack than any other business, they can be more severe because of the information they hold, according to Bankinfosecurity.com.

Goshen (Ind.) Health began notifying 9,160 patients on Sept. 30 of a security incident that may have exposed their personal health information, according to The Elkhart Truth.

The FDA has been cautioning patients, providers, IT staff and manufacturers of various vulnerabilities that if exploited could allow a hacker to remotely take control of a medical device.

All three Tuscaloosa, Ala.-based DCH Health System hospitals are temporarily closed to new patients due to a targeted Oct. 1 ransomware attack.