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.
Attacks on hospitals continued this week, with ransomware operations disrupting patient care as they force organization to respond to cyberattacks. [...]
Pediatric Hospital and Safety-Net Facility Are Dealing With Recent IncidentsTwo Chicago hospitals are navigating the effects of recent cyberattacks. One, a children's hospital, has taken its IT network offline to respond to an incident, and the other, a nonprofit safety-net hospital, is being shaken down by cybercriminals asking for a hefty ransom in return for stolen data.
Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago was forced to take IT systems offline after a cyberattack, disrupting normal operations and delaying medical care in some instances. [...]
What Will 2024 Be Like If the Healthcare Sector Doesn't Step Up?Thanks to the massive Anthem hack, for nearly a decade 2015 has been the record year for U.S. health data breaches - with 112.5 million people affected. But 2023 shattered that record, big-time. Will 2024 be another banner year for health data compromises?
It is imperative that healthcare and health-tech companies move beyond reactive measures and adopt a proactive stance in safeguarding sensitive patient information.
It even had the gall to set the ransom demand at $800K … for a nonprofit Ransomware gang LockBit is claiming responsibility for an attack on a Chicago children's hospital in an apparent deviation from its previous policy of not targeting nonprofits.…
Getting the health sector to vastly improve the state of its cybersecurity will take much more than the recent issuance of federal guidance outlining cyber performance goals for entities. It will also require new government incentives and mandates, said Steve Cagle, CEO of consultancy Clearwater.
Getting the health sector to vastly improve its state of cybersecurity will take much more than the recent issuance of new federal guidance outlining cyber performance goals for entities. It will also require new government incentives and mandates, said Steve Cagle, CEO of consultancy Clearwater.
A financially motivated threat actor known as UNC4990 is leveraging weaponized USB devices as an initial infection vector to target organizations in Italy
Litigation Alleges the Web Tracker Scraped Sensitive Patient InformationA federal judge has again given the green light for a proposed consolidated class action lawsuit against Meta to proceed. The litigation claims the firm unlawfully collected patient data from the websites of hospitals and other providers through the use of its Pixel tracking tool.
California Firm Said August Attack Affected Clients' DataA California insurance broker that handles employee benefits, workers' compensation and property liability is notifying more than 1.5 million individuals about a ransomware/data exfiltration attack last August that involved health insurance information, passport numbers and Social Security numbers.
In nearly every segment of our lives, AI (artificial intelligence) now makes a significant impact: It can deliver better healthcare diagnoses and treatments; detect and reduce the risk of financial fraud; improve inventory management; and serve up the right recommendation for a streaming movie on Friday night. However, one can also make a strong case that some of AI’s most significant impacts