Stay updated with the latest healthcare cybersecurity trends, news, and tips to protect patient data and comply with medical industry security standards.
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Background for this topic.
Healthcare is the delivery of clinical care and related services through hospitals, clinics, laboratories, pharmacies, insurers, and connected medical devices. It depends on electronic health records (EHRs), patient identity systems, diagnostic and imaging platforms, medication and scheduling systems, and data exchanges between organizations. These environments hold sensitive health and payment information, while the availability and integrity of systems can affect treatment, diagnostics, and patient safety.
Security concerns include unauthorized access or disclosure of records, alteration of clinical data, and disruption of care through attacks on EHRs, connected devices, or third-party services. Defenses require risk-based access controls, strong authentication, network separation where appropriate, secure device and software maintenance, backups that support clinical continuity, and tested downtime and incident-response procedures. Vulnerability management must account for legacy systems and devices that cannot be patched quickly. Privacy and compliance obligations, such as HIPAA in the United States, shape how organizations collect, use, share, retain, and report health information.
This update reports on the current state of cybersecurity in the healthcare industry from the CISA’s keynote in Cybersecurity forum of HIMSS23.
Cue the inevitable class action lawsuit PharMerica, one of the largest pharmacy service providers in the US, has revealed its IT systems were breached last month – and it's feared the intruders stole personal and healthcare data belonging to more than 5.8 million past customers…
Infecting cops' computers is one way to put a target on your back The Feds have sanctioned a Russian national accused of using LockBit, Babuk, and Hive ransomware to extort a law enforcement agency and nonprofit healthcare organization in New Jersey, and the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington DC, among "numerous" other victim organizations in the US and globally.…
A Russian man identified by KrebsOnSecurity in January 2022 as a prolific and vocal member of several top ransomware groups was the subject of two indictments unsealed by the Justice Department today. U.S. prosecutors say Mikhail Pavolovich Matveev, a.k.a. "Wazawaka" and "Boriselcin" worked with three different ransomware gangs that extorted hundreds of millions of dollars from companies, schools, hospitals and government agencies.
Medical and insurance data exposed in ransomware attack
Relatives are being alerted that a PharMerica compromise exposed the sensitive data of their deceased loved ones, which could be used for identity theft.
Pharmacy services provider PharMerica has disclosed a massive data breach impacting over 5.8 million patients, exposing their medical data to hackers. [...]