Ransomware Infection Results in Patients PHI Being Encrypted

Another healthcare provider has announced that a ransomware infection has resulted in patients’ protected health information being encrypted, and potentially accessed, by cybercriminals. The Susan M. Hughes Center, a provider of aesthetic medicine and cosmetic surgery services in New Jersey and Philadelphia, discovered ransomware had been installed on its computer system on August 30, 2016.…

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TWO THIRDS OF HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATIONS LACK CONFIDENCE IN DATA SHARING

A recent survey conducted by Privacy Analytics, a Canadian technology firm specializing in data masking and data de-identification technology, indicates two out of three healthcare organizations do not have complete confidence in their ability to share patient health information without placing patient privacy at risk. HIPAA and Data Sharing Under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, covered…

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Data Breach Laws in California Updated

Data breach laws in California have been updated following the signing of three new bills by California Governor Jerry Brown. The new bills were passed as a single package, and will come into effect on January 1, 2016. The new bills – Assembly Bill 964 (A.B. 964), Senate Bill 570 (S.B. 570) and Senate Bill…

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Stolen UCSF Laptops Contained PHI of Research Participants

The University of California San Francisco (UCSF) has announced the burglary of a faculty member’s office involved the theft of a laptop computer contained the unencrypted, protected data of a number of individuals. The information included research and health information along with Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and medical insurance details. The burglary occurred in May,…

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