Content by Marianne Kolbasuk McGee

State Forces ENT Practice to Spend $2.25M on Better Security

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  October 30, 2024

An upstate New York-based medical practice must spend $2.25 million to improve its data security practices over the next five years, plus pay state regulators up to a $1 million fine following an investigation into two ransomware attacks days apart in 2023 that affected nearly 224,500 people.

Lawsuits Accuse LinkedIn of Tracking Users' Health Info

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  October 29, 2024

LinkedIn is facing several proposed class action lawsuits filed in recent weeks in California alleging that the company is "intercepting" users' sensitive information related to appointments booked on medical websites through the use of web tracking tools for marketing and advertising purposes.

Why Shoring Up Cyber at Rural and Small Hospitals Is Urgent

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  October 28, 2024

When a large hospital in an urban area is shut down by ransomware, the disruption can be significant, but when a rural hospital faces a similar cyber outage, the impact on patient safety and the community can be extreme, said Nitin Natarajan of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

What's in Store for HIPAA Regulations

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  October 25, 2024

Regardless of who wins the upcoming Presidential election, one thing is apparent: As the final months of the Biden administration wrap up, regulators at the agency charged with enforcing HIPAA are racing to complete unfinished work they deem as critically important to healthcare sector cyber.

Unforeseen Risks to Medical Devices in Ransomware Attacks

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  October 24, 2024

While ransomware attacks against medical devices don't happen often, disruptive cyber incidents that affect the availability of the IT systems that medical devices rely on are a big concern that needs the industry's critical attention, said Jessica Wilkerson of the FDA.

White House Reviewing Updates to HIPAA Security Rule

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  October 23, 2024

The Department of Health and Human Service last Friday submitted for White House review long-awaited updates to the 20-year-old HIPAA Security Rule containing modifications aimed at strengthening the cybersecurity of electronic protected health information.

Why Vetting AI Vendor Security Is Critical in Healthcare

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  October 23, 2024

It's crucial for healthcare sector organizations to vet their artificial intelligence tech vendors in the same robust way they scrutinize the privacy and security practices of all their other third-party suppliers, said attorney Linda Malek of the law firm Crowell & Moring.

Helping Medical Device Makers Meet Latest Cyber Expectations

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  October 22, 2024

Medical device makers have become more proactive in trying to meet higher cybersecurity expectations of regulators, but many still need to better understand the importance of life cycle security risk management and related issues, said Axel Wirth of Medcrypt and Christopher Gates of Velentium.

Dental Center Chain Settles Data Breach Lawsuit for $2.7M

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  October 21, 2024

A Michigan-based dental practice with 250 centers across nine states has agreed to pay $2.7 million under a preliminary settlement of a proposed consolidated class action lawsuit centered on a 2023 hacking incident reported as affecting more than 1.9 million patients and employees.

BianLian Ransomware Gang Claims Heist of Pediatric Data

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  October 18, 2024

Ransomware gang BianLian has listed Boston Children's Health Physicians - a pediatric group that practices in New York and Connecticut - on its dark web site, threatening to release stolen patient and employee data. The practice said the September incident involved an IT vendor.

3 Longtime Health Centers Report Hacks Affecting 740,000

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  October 17, 2024

A network of family health centers, a public medical center and a plastic surgery practice with nearly 180 years of combined service are among the latest healthcare groups reporting major data theft incidents to regulators. The three hacks affected nearly 740,000 patients and employees.

Change Healthcare Attack Cost Estimate Reaches Nearly $2.9B

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  October 16, 2024

UnitedHealth Group has raised its estimates to nearly $2.9 billion for the total costs this fiscal year of the cyberattack on its Change Healthcare IT services unit. UHG said it is also working to catch up with claims processing and to win back clients disenfranchised by the attack.

UMC Recovers EHR; Other Systems Offline 3 Weeks Post-Attack

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  October 15, 2024

Nearly three weeks after a ransomware attack, UMC Health System has restored electronic health records, but the Texas-based public health system is still working to recover other patient care IT systems. Nearby Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center is still dealing with a related outage.

Revenue Cycle Vendor Notifying 400,000 Patients of Hack

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  October 14, 2024

A Texas-based revenue cycle management firm is notifying about 400,000 individuals of a hacking incident it says originated with another third party. The incident is among a growing list of major breaches implicating vendors and cumulatively affecting tens of millions of patients so far this year.

Rhysida Leaks Nursing Home Data, Demands $1.5M From Axis

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  October 11, 2024

Ransomware gang Rhysida is threatening to dump data on the darkweb that belongs to a Colorado provider of mental health, substance abuse and other healthcare services unless it pays nearly $1.5 million. The group is leaking records it claims to have stolen from a Mississippi nursing home.