Cybersecurity

The digital security of healthcare institutions and data is a growing concern, with an increasing number of cyberattacks each year against healthcare systems, which are seen as easy targets. Cyber attacks often use ransomware to target personal health information, patient data and medical devices to cut off access to the data until a ransom is payed to the hacker. Cybercriminals have become more sophisticated, using malware, ransomware and spyware to attack outdated and vulnerable systems and software. Due to the interconnected nature of hospital IT systems today, the weakest link can be older web-enabled medical devices, including clinical and non-clinical systems. Employees are also a major target of attacks via malicious e-mails that prompt them to open attachments that then download malware onto the hospital's IT system.

Ransomware Cyberattack Data Breach

Ransomware hit 67% of healthcare organizations this year—more than half paid up

A new survey from a cybersecurity firm shows ransomware attacks are increasing in frequency and healthcare entities are facing ever-higher demands. 

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Lone Michigan Medicine employee responsible for breach that impacted 58K patients

The employee fell for a phishing scam that gave an unknown hacker access to the academic hospital’s email system. 

Lehigh Valley Health Network to pay $65M after nudes of patients leaked online

The nudes were taken along with medical records during a February 2023 hack by BlackCat, a notorious ransomware syndicate.

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Another 947K patient records found to be leaked in MOVEit breach

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation are sending notices to impacted patients. The data was leaked as a result of the May 2023 MOVEit exploit. 

The American Hospital Association (AMA) is warning healthcare systems the Russians may attempt cyber attacks amid rising tensions of the war in Ukraine and the international community's response. #Ukraine #warinukraine #ukrainewar

Report: Ransomware landscape changing, attacks down 16% since 2023

The rate of ransomware attacks may be slowing, but smaller players are causing havoc with targeted attacks, an analysis from Searchlight Cyber found.

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Healthcare Cybersecurity Act brought to House by bipartisan cosponsors

Initially proposed in 2022, the law was reintroduced to the Senate in July. Now it's being backed by members of the House.

 

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Lawyer: Court decision over website trackers has ‘zero impact on patient privacy’

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has opted not to appeal a federal court decision that partially repealed the agency’s ban on website trackers.

money cybersecurity ransomware health IT data breach hacker

McLaren recovering from ransomware attack, unclear about data security

McLaren said it will still take time to update patient records, as it has been manually charting during the weeks-long outage.

Around the web

When drugs are on the FDA’s shortage list, outsourcing facilities can produce their own compounded versions. When the FDA removed tirzepatide from that list with no warning, it created a considerable amount of chaos both behind the scenes and in pharmacies all over the country. 

If passed, this bill would help clinician-led clinical registries explore Medicare data for research purposes. The Society of Thoracic Surgeons and American College of Cardiology both shared public support for the bipartisan legislation. 

Cardiologists and other physicians may soon need to provide much more information when ordering remote patient monitoring for Medicare patients.

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