Cybersecurity

Albuquerque, N.M.-based Presbyterian Healthcare Services began mailing letters to 183,000 patients Aug. 2 notifying them of a data breach that may have exposed their personal information, according to the Albuquerque Journal.

Chief information security officers play a crucial role on the hospital's IT team.

Between January and June, more than 31.6 million patient records were compromised, according to data released July 31 from Protenus Breach Barometer.

Long Beach, Calif.-based Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center employees transferred more than 100 patients' private health information via personal and unsecured text messages, email accounts and flash drives between 2013 and 2017, Press-Telegram reports.

Numerous privacy incidents at hospitals, IT suppliers and other healthcare organizations captured public attention last month.

Paper and films within hospitals and health systems are the most frequent location for data breaches, according to a study published in the American Journal of Managed Care.

Wickenburg (Ariz.) Community Hospital was the target of a ransomware attack on June 28; however, within three days, its four-person IT team had the hospital's computers almost fully functional, according to AZ Central.

Almost half (49 percent) of security operations center analysts believe their organization's SOC is not fully aligned with their businesses' needs, according to a Ponemon Institute survey.

The University of Alabama has alerted around 1,400 former clients, employees and medical providers at its Tuscaloosa-based Brewer-Porch Children's Center of a data breach that may have exposed some personal information, according to Tuscaloosa News.

Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox browser extensions were used to extract and sell users' personal information from more than 50 companies, including EHR providers DrChrono and Kareo, according to the Washington Post.