HIPAA regulates much more in a healthcare business than most would think. Did you know that HIPAA dictates specific guidelines on how protected health information may be used in a healthcare provider’s reception area? So that you can avoid HIPAA violations by accidental unauthorized disclosure of PHI, HIPAA guidelines for reception areas are discussed. HIPAA Guidelines for Reception Areas There are several [...]
Although many businesses have returned to regular operations, there is still a large portion of workers that continue to work remotely, or work on a hybrid schedule. It seems as though this may continue for sometime, and for some companies, indefinitely. There can be a host of cybersecurity issues when staff members access company information while working remotely. So, how can you protect patient privacy in a remote [...]
Ransomware attacks continue to rise, especially those targeting healthcare organizations. Hackers often target healthcare organizations in ransomware attacks to disrupt operations in hopes that the organization will pay a ransom. Healthcare organizations are also targeted in data theft incidents because patient information can be extremely valuable on the black market. This is why it has never been more important to protect your organization by improving your healthcare security. [...]
GitHub is an open-source software development hosting website, with millions of developers building and maintaining their software on the platform. In December of 2020, GitHub was notified by security researchers Jelle Ursem and Dissent Doe of DataBreaches.net, that some of the data of Med-Data, Inc. (MedData), had been uploaded to GitHub. MedData provides revenue cycle management services for hospitals and health systems throughout the United States. Recently, MedData [...]
With 1.2 million patients affected by February 2021 healthcare breaches, healthcare security should be at the top of mind for organizations working with patient information. Therefore, healthcare and cybersecurity are both important to maintain. To provide guidance on protecting your organization against breaches, 12 tips to improve your healthcare security are discussed. How to Improve Healthcare Security There are 12 things that you [...]
Petersburg Medical Center announced in a press release that an employee of the organization violated the hospital’s code of conduct and HIPAA patient privacy by accessing patient medical records without cause. Details on the insider healthcare patient privacy breach are discussed. Petersburg Medical Center: Insider Healthcare Breach Upon learning that an employee may have been accessing protected health information (PHI) outside their duties, Petersburg Medical Center launched an [...]
As an organization that specializes in cybersecurity, SolarWinds did a particularly poor job of protecting their file server. This is evident by the fact that not only did they give an intern login credentials that allowed access to their servers, but the password they chose to protect the server was something a child could guess, ‘solarwinds123.’ More details on the SolarWinds hack, and how it could have been [...]
The Virginia House of Delegates and Senate have passed legislation known as the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (CDPA). The personal data act is expected to reach the desk of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, who may sign the legislation by as early as the end of February of 2021. The CDPA is modeled on the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), California’s expansive consumer data privacy protection law, and [...]
For seven years Florida Healthy Kids Corporation, a Medicaid health plan provider, left its online application platform unprotected, unbeknownst to them. More details on the Medicaid data breach are discussed. Florida Healthy Kids Medicaid Data Breach Florida Healthy Kids contracted a third-party web hosting provider, Jelly Bean Communications Design, LLC., to manage their website. On December 9, 2020, Jelly Bean Communications notified Florida [...]
Two healthcare organizations recently revealed that employees of their organizations accessed patient records without authorization. Insider healthcare breaches have long plagued the industry, so how can you protect your organization? More details on the breaches and how to prevent a similar incident from occurring in your organization are discussed. Montefiore Medical Center Insider Healthcare Breaches Between June 2020 and November 2020, an employee of Montefiore Medical Center accessed [...]
