Content by Marianne Kolbasuk McGee

HHS Will Seek HIPAA Changes for Reproductive Health Data

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 20, 2023

Federal regulators are working on proposed rule to modify HIPAA to better safeguard the privacy of reproductive health data. The Biden administration last year already issued guidance about the application of the HIPAA Privacy Rule to information about reproductive health.

2 State AGs Slap DNA Testing Lab With HIPAA Fines for Hack

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 17, 2023

The attorneys general of Pennsylvania and Ohio have slapped a DNA testing lab with HIPAA settlements totaling $400,000 in the wake of a 2021 hack of a legacy database that affected 2.1 million individuals nationwide, including nearly 46,000 consumers in the two states.

2022 Cyberattack Has Cost CommonSpirit $150 Million So Far

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 16, 2023

A ransomware incident last fall that disrupted some of hospital chain CommonSpirit's operations for at least a month has cost the organization $150 million in lost revenue, remediation and other expenses so far. CommonSpirit also likely faces additional legal expenses.

Feds Urge Health Sector Entities to Guard Against DDoS

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 15, 2023

Federal authorities are urging healthcare sector entities to take steps to protect their web applications, connected devices and other critical systems against distributed denial-of-service attacks. The warning comes weeks after a wave of DDoS attacks from Russian nuisance hacking group KillNet.

CHS: 1 Million Patients Affected by GoAnywhere MFT Hack

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 14, 2023

Community Health Systems has reported to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that a security incident involving vendor Fortra's GoAnywhere secure file transfer software has compromised the data of about 1 million patients. Did attackers exploit a recent zero-day vulnerability?

6 Networks Named in Nationwide Health Data Exchange Effort

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 14, 2023

Federal regulators said true health data interoperability is on its way for hundreds of millions of American patients now that six tech providers have committed to a rigorous set of trust and security criteria for swapping patient information. The agreement is a milestone years in the making.

Overcoming Identity and Access Challenges in Healthcare

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 13, 2023

Before healthcare entities can promise advanced identity and access management technologies and practices, their IAM programs need to address important fundamentals, which many entities still struggle with due to the complexity of healthcare itself, says Erik Decker, CISO of Intermountain Health.

Showing Evidence of 'Recognized Security Practices'

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 11, 2023

Healthcare entities and their vendors should be prepared to show evidence to regulators of how they've implemented "recognized security practices," or RSPs, says Robert Booker, chief strategy officer of HITRUST. "You've got to demonstrate that you align with a framework."

California Medical Group's Ransomware Breach Affects 3.3M

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 10, 2023

Regal Medical Group, one of the largest medical groups in Southern California, has reported that a December ransomware incident involving data exfiltration has potentially compromised the protected health information of more than 3.3 million individuals.

Tackling Top Cyber Challenges in APAC's Healthcare Sector

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 10, 2023

Asia-Pacific healthcare sector organizations struggle with many of the same cybersecurity challenges as clinics in other parts of the world, including ransomware threats and denial-of-service attacks, says Errol Weiss, chief security officer of the Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center.

US, South Korea Warn of North Korean Ransomware Threats

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 9, 2023

Multiple government agencies in the U.S. and South Korea issued a joint alert warning critical infrastructure sectors - and especially the healthcare sector - of ongoing ransomware threats involving North Korean state-sponsored cybercriminals.

Senators Grill Telehealth Firms on Data-Sharing Practices

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 9, 2023

A group of bipartisan U.S. senators is seeking answers from three telehealth companies about their data tracking and sharing practices. The move comes as privacy and security concerns about broader data sharing by technology firms also are growing.

Ontario Hospital Among Latest Healthcare Cyberattack Victims

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 8, 2023

An Ontario hospital says it is operating under "Code Grey" as it deals with a cybersecurity incident that occurred over the weekend. Meanwhile, hospitals in Maryland and Florida say they are still recovering from cyberattacks that hit last week and continue to affect a variety of patient services.

Lawsuit: Cedars-Sinai Sharing Patient Data From Websites

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 7, 2023

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles has joined a growing list of organizations being sued for allegations that its use of website tracking codes is unlawfully sharing individuals' personal and health information to third-party social media and marketing companies.

Mergers and Acquisitions in Healthcare: The Security Risks

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 7, 2023

During the height of the coronavirus pandemic, mergers and acquisitions in the healthcare sector slumped, but they now appear to be slowly rebounding. What does this mean in terms of potential security risks that organizations undergoing consolidation face?