cybersecurity news
- Scripps Health, headquartered in San Diego, CA, agreed to pay $3.5 million to settle lawsuit alleging negligence regarding a ransomware attack in 2021 that exposed the PHI of over 1 million patients.
- The federal Office for Civil Rights (aka HIPAA police) is reminding healthcare facilities the heavy penalty if they do not properly dispose of paper PHI.
- A small clinic in Massachusetts was recently fined $300,640 after PHI was found in garbage bin.
- St. Rose Hospital of Hayward, CA, notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware attack.
- Baphomet hacking group is apparently selling the info on 400 million users of Twitter, which could result in a $276 million GDPR fine to Twitter.
- Cincinnati State Technical Community College of Ohio has notified an unknown number of students that their info was exposed after ransomware attack.
- Pierce County sheriff reported that 2 of the electric substations in Tacoma, WA were attacked by hackers, disrupting service for thousands of customers.
- Sargent & Lundy Engineering of Chicago, IL notified an unknown number of customers that their info was exposed after ransomware attack.
- Morley Companies, headquartered in Saginaw, Michigan, paid out $4.3 million to settle allegations of negligence as a result of a data breach that exposed info on 628,000 individuals.
- Holland Public School District of Michigan is being sued for alleged negligence regarding data breach that exposed info on 157,000 students.
- Lake Charles Memorial Health of Louisiana announced it refused to pay the $900,000 ransom demanded by hackers after it was hit by ransomware that exposed the PHI of 269,752 patients.
- Multicare Health of Seattle, WA notified 23,000 patients that their PHI was exposed after data breach.
- The healthcare and public health (HPH) sector has been warned about the risk of cyberattacks by a pro-Russian hacktivist group dubbed KillNet, following a recent attack on a U.S. healthcare organization.
- KillNet is believed to have started operating around the time that Russia invaded Ukraine, between January and March 2022.
- Since then, the hacktivist group has targeted government institutions and private sector organizations in countries that are providing support to Ukraine, especially NATO countries.