In September 2024, the OCR Breach Portal listed 26 incidents affecting 4,377,193 patients. The most affected group was health plans, reporting four incidents affecting 3,118,229 patients. This was followed by business associates, who reported four incidents affecting 985,032 patients. Healthcare providers also reported 18 incidents affecting 273,932 patients. We’ll examine what caused the September 2024 healthcare breaches and how they could have been prevented.
23 Hacking Incidents Affected 4.3 Million
Hacking incidents are generally the leading cause of healthcare breaches, and September 2024 was no different. The 23 hacking incidents reported in September 2024 represented 99% of patients affected by September incidents.
Who reported hacking incidents, and how many patients were affected?
- 15 healthcare providers, 267,467 patients
- 4 business associates, 985,032 patients
- 4 health plans, 3,118,229 patients
How to Prevent Hacking
As hacking incidents have become the leading cause behind healthcare breaches for several years, minimizing your risk of being targeted is crucial.
Security Risk Assessments and Remediation
Security risk assessments (SRAs) are vital for security and compliance. An SRA aims to identify weaknesses and vulnerabilities in your security practices to prepare yourself against potential threats. Once SRAs have been conducted, it is essential to create remediation plans to address any identified deficiencies.
Employee Cybersecurity Training
A significant portion of hacking incidents results from phishing emails. Employee cybersecurity training is essential to your organization’s overall security posture. Employees should be trained on recognizing phishing attempts and what to do if they suspect an incident has occurred.
Two Incidents of Unauthorized Access or Disclosure and One Incident of Theft
Two incidents of unauthorized access or disclosure were reported in September 2024. These incidents affected 3,847 patients, representing 0.09% of patients affected by September incidents. Both of these incidents affected healthcare providers. An additional incident involving the theft of PHI was reported by a healthcare provider.
How to Prevent Unauthorized Access or Disclosure
As we mentioned, there are two ways in which unauthorized access or disclosures occur – inappropriate employee access or unauthorized access by another entity.
Policies and Procedures and Employee Training
HIPAA policies and procedures are essential to HIPAA compliance as they guide employees on what is appropriate. HIPAA requires employee use and disclosure of PHI to be limited to the minimum necessary to perform their job functions. Your policies and procedures should dictate this, and employees should be trained on the policies and procedures to be aware of their obligations.
User Authentication, Access Controls, and Audit Controls
To ensure adherence to the minimum necessary standard, you must implement user authentication, access controls, and audit controls. User authentication provides unique login credentials for each employee, while access controls enable administrators to designate different PHI access levels using those unique login credentials. Also, based on the implementation of unique login credentials, audit controls track access to data to ensure that PHI is accessed appropriately by each employee.
