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.
Taking advantage of the ridiculously complex US healthcare billing system Criminals masquerading as insurers are tricking patients and healthcare providers into handing over medical records and bank account information via emails and text messages, according to the FBI.…
Alerts Come on the Heels of Recent Attacks on InsurersU.S. federal authorities are warning the public and healthcare sector entities of email and fax phishing scams by fraudsters seeking to steal personal information about patients or payments. The warnings come as three large U.S. insurers continue to recover from recent cyberattacks.
Device Makers Get Details on Design, Labeling and Submission RequirementsThe Food and Drug Administration has published final guidance for the cybersecurity of premarket medical devices. The new document presents FDA’s latest recommendations on medical device cybersecurity and the information makers must include in their premarket submissions to the agency.
Personal Data Stolen in Ransomware Hit, Says Dutch Owner of Stop & Shop, Giant FoodFood retail giant Ahold Delhaize USA is notifying 2.2 million current and former employees, as well as an unspecified number of employees in the Netherlands, that a November 2024 data breach exposed their personally identifiable information, including Social Security numbers and medical details.
Finance, health, and national identification details compromised Multinational grocery and retail megacorp Ahold Delhaize says upwards of 2.2 million people had their data compromised during its November cyberattack with personal, financial and health details among the trove.…
Ahold Delhaize, one of the world's largest food retail chains, is notifying over 2.2 million individuals that their personal, financial, and health information was stolen in a November ransomware attack that impacted its U.S. systems. [...]
Debt Collector's 2024 Data Breach Affected Multiple Hospitals and Medical PracticesThe list of healthcare sector clients reporting large health data breaches from the 2024 hack on debt collection firm Nationwide Recovery Service continues to grow, as does the vast number of affected patients. So far, the hack has affected at least 500,000 patients.
Pathology outage caused by Synnovis breach linked to harm across dozens of healthcare facilities The NHS says Qilin's ransomware attack on pathology services provider Synnovis last year led to the death of a patient.…
Agency: Rising Threats Put Manufacturing Supply Chains, Patient Safety at RiskThe Food and Drug Administration is urging medical product makers to carefully address the cybersecurity of their connected operational technologies, including advanced and "smart" devices used in their manufacturing and supply chains, to reduce the risk to rising cyberthreats.
Geopolitical Conflict Involving Iran, Israel, US Ripe for Attacks on SectorGovernment authorities are warning of increased risk of Iranian cyber and related threats against healthcare and public health sector organizations - including ransomware, distributed denial-of-service and other attacks related to that nation's escalated conflicts with Israel and the U.S.
Data breach at McLaren Health Care affecting over 743,000 individuals has been linked to a ransomware attack
Frustrations Over Preauthorization Denials Have Led to 'Violence in Streets'A dozen health insurance giants that provide coverage for about 80% of Americans with Medicare, Medicaid and commercial plans have agreed to work the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to voluntarily streamline and improve their preauthorization processes.
Michigan-Based Group Breached in Ransomware Attack for Second Time in Two YearsMcLaren Health has begun notifying more than 743,000 people affected by a ransomware attack last summer. The incident, carried out by cybercriminal gang Inc Ransom, is McLaren's second major health data breach from a ransomware attack in two years.
Criminals targeted the hospital and physician network’s Detroit cancer clinic this time McLaren Health Care is in the process of writing to 743,131 individuals now that it fully understands the impact of its July 2024 cyberattack.…
McLaren Health Care is warning 743,000 patients that the health system suffered a data breach caused by a July 2024 attack by the INC ransomware gang. [...]
PLUS: 5.4M healthcare records leak; AI makes Spam harder to spot; Many nasty Linux vulns; and more Infosec in brief A former US Army sergeant has admitted he attempted to sell classified data to China.…