Additional evidence has appeared presenting the advantages of healthcare written messaging. A recently published study in the Journal of the American Heart Association obviously indicated that an automatic mHealth interference using Smartphone and text messages tracing applications might prove to be a good approach for rising patients’ physical activity stages. The advantages of rising activity stages, particularly … Read more
Last week software giant Adobe issued a new patch for Flash Player to address an actively exploited weakness (CVE-2017-11292) that is being targeted by the hacking group Black Oasis to install FinSpy malware. Finspy is strictly not defined as malware, it is a legitimate software program developed by the German software company Gamma International. However, … Read more
TheDarkOverlord hacking group has, in recent time, been targeting K12 schools; obtaining access to networks, stealing data and trying to extort money. As a reaction to the hacking and extortion threats, the U.S. Department of Education has released an advisory to K12 schools and has issued guidance to help educational institutions mitigate danger and safeguard their … Read more
Specific industry sectors in the United States and South Korea have been the main targets in the Formbook malware attacks. However there has been some worry that the malware will be used in more widespread cyberattacks around the world. So far, the Aerospace industry, defense contractors, and the manufacturing sector have been widely targeted; however, … Read more
This Patch Tuesday has seen Microsoft release several updates for serious vulnerabilities, some of which are being constantly exploited in the open. Microsoft is pleading with companies to apply the patches now to keep their systems safe. Some of the vulnerabilities are simple to exploit, requiring little experience or knowledge Overall, 62 vulnerabilities have been … Read more
DDoS attacks are being implemented using the Flusihoc Botnet, some as recording speeds as quick as 45 Gbps according to investigators at Arbor networks. The Flusihoc botnet has been in action for a minimum two years, although activity has grown over the last few months, with more than 900 attacks initiated using the Flusihoc botnet … Read more
After it was first discovered the 2013 Yahoo data violation was quickly found to have affected many of the company’s customers and in December 2016 it was announced that 1 billion accounts had been compromised. In September 2016, prior to that announcement, a separate breach was discovered that affected approximately half a billion email accounts. … Read more
A patch for a vulnerability in Drupal (CVE-2017-6922) that has been activiley exploited for some months was released in June 2017. The flaw affects Drupal v 7.56 and 8.3.4. Drupal was aware of the flaw, an access bypass vulnerability, since October 2017. It is possible for the flaw to be exploited on misconfigured websites, permitting … Read more
Proofpoint, the cybersecurity firm, has confirmed that is has discovered a new Twitter credit card phishing scam. Users of the social media platform Twitter are being offered verified account status via native Twitter ads; the catch being that signing up requires the provision of credit card details, which are then communicated to the attackers. Obtaining … Read more
Dr. Web, a Russian antivirus firm has recently discovered a new Trojan downloader. The malware uses a popup Windows ‘Save As’ dialog box to install malicious payloads, which have thus far all been adware. The malware, dubbed “Trojan.Ticno.1537”, installs variety of adware together with a malicious extension for Google Chrome. According to Dr. Web, the … Read more
Details of a SMB file sharing protocol flaw in Windows have been made public some 12 days prior to the release of a patch by Microsoft. Laurent Gaffié, the researcher who published details of the flaw, has claimed that Microsoft had been aware of the issue for around 3 months beforehand yet failed to act … Read more
One of Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield’s (Delaware) subcontractors has fallen victim to a ransomware infection and cyberattack that may have put private information relating to almost ninetenn thousand beneficiaries of employer-paid health plans at risk. The attack happened on the 5th of August 2016 at Highmark BCBS subcontractor Summit Reinsurance Services, however affected individuals … Read more
Patients of the True Health Group have had their health reports exposed online due to a law in the True Health Diagnostics website. Moreover, the reports appear to have been viewable by other patients for months if not years. Based in Frisco, Texas, True Health Diagnostics is a company that offers a broad range of … Read more
Sentara Healthcare is currently carrying out an investigation into a data breach affecting one of its 3rd-party vendors which allowed a number of patients’ protected health information to be accessed by an unauthorized person. Sentara Healthcare was alerted to a possible ePHI breach by police officers on the 17th of November 2016. An internal investigation … Read more
New methods of spreading ransomware are constantly being developed; however, a new ransomware variant discovered by MalwareHunterTeam researchers called “Popcorn Time” appears to use tactics that have never before been seen. When Popcorn Time ransomware has infected a victims device they are given a choice between two options: They can pay the ransom and thereby … Read more
A security flaw in a patient portal has exposed information concerning patient claims. Claims information had previously been uploaded to the patient portal of Molina Healthcare, which is a managed care company based in Long Beach, California. This in itself is not abnormal, however the flaw meant that the information was in fact accessible without … Read more
Patch Tuesday 2016: Microsoft has acted to fix 68 vulnerabilities including 6 that had been rated critical. The updates have been spread over fourteen security bulletins. The updates include fixes for 2 vulnerabilities that are presently being actively exploited including the CVE-2016-7255 vulnerability that was announced by Google in October 2016. Google decided to announce … Read more
Numerous email compromise tactics have for some time been in use by scammers to trick business executives into making fraudulent wire transfers. Recently, a Symantec security specialist has observed that some scammers have begun taking a new approach in order to increase BEC scams’ rate of success. The biggest problem that the scammers face is … Read more
If yours is one of many businesses which depend upon Microsoft Security Bulletins to remain informed about new patches and fixes to known vulnerabilities, you and your colleagues should prepare yourselves for an upcoming change in the way Microsoft announces security fixes. In blog post in late 2016, Microsoft confirmed that its Security Bulletins would … Read more
According to IT Security researchers, MacOS malware is now being spread by malicious Word macros. This is the first occasion on which MacOS malware has been recognised as having been used to spread this attack vector. Windows users can anticipate that they are vulnerable to attack with malware, however until now Mac users have stayed … Read more
A ransomware attack on an LA Valley College on the 6th of January, 2017 lead to student data being locked and resulted in some 1,800 college staff – both administrators and teachers – being unable to gain access to their computer system and essential work files. Ransomware is a form of malicious software. The purpose … Read more
The culprits responsible for Locky ransomware have begun using data obtained in the OPM data breaches of 2014 and 2015 in a new campaign designed to spread cryptoransomware. It remains unknown exactly how much data was obtained, however in total, around 22 million user records were stolen in the OPM breach. The spam emails, sent … Read more
Malware infections over the Christmas holiday period are something to be expected. Every year as the number of online shoppers increases, the number of Windows malware infections increases with them. Data from Enigma Software Group (ESG) indicates that between Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2015, the rate of malware infections was 84% higher than … Read more
E-Sports Entertainment Association (ESEA) has confirmed that it has been subject to an attempted extortion after a hacker successfully infiltrated one of its game servers. The incident enabled the hacker to steal the player profiles and other data of 1.5 million users. The hack was carried out on the 27th of December 2016. The attacker … Read more
LeakedSource has claimed that email addresses, usernames, and passwords have been accessed by the hackers responsible for a recent Dailymotion cyberattack. Dailymotion is one of the biggest internet video sharing platforms and, according to Alexa, is the world wide web’s 113th most popular site. Dailymotion recorded 148 million hits in April 2015. The cyberattack is … Read more
Cybercriminals responsible for a ransomware attack against a Sherriff’s office in Arkansas have received payment of 3 Bitcoin ($2,400) to supply the relevant keys to decrypt files that had been locked by the ransomware. Carrol County Sheriff’s office was the victim of a ransomware attack on the 5th of December, 2016 which resulted in its … Read more
Kaiser Permanente is alerting a few of its associates of a website formation mistake that led to the revelation of a few of their safeguarded health information. Luckily, the mistake was swiftly known and ePHI was just revealed for about 2 hours. On October 12, 2016, an upgrading to the site, Kp.org was carried out … Read more
The Division of Health and Human Services’ OCR has lately distributed guidance for HIPAA covered entities on ransomware to assist protected bodies trade with the enhanced danger of ransomware assaults. Recently the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has cautioned companies that they should do more to cope with the ransomware danger. The failure to apply proper safeguards against … Read more
August was a regretful month for healthcare files breaks. Over 8.8 million health plan member and patient files were stolen or exposed. 8,804,608 to be exact. As per the up-to-date segment of the Protenus Break Indicator, the total quantity of healthcare files exposed or stolen this summer now surpasses 20 million. In August, 44 break … Read more
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) has circulated the outcomes of its yearly healthcare cybersecurity analysis. The report demonstrates that healthcare companies are using a range of methods to enhance their safety posture as well as keep confidential files safeguarded. But, several companies are failing to use fundamental cybersecurity skills to avoid illegal … Read more
A huge data break has been informed by a Phoenix AZ-based healthcare company which has possibly affected 3.7 million people. The assault is the 2nd biggest cyberattack informed thus far in 2016, just second to previous month’s 9.3 million highest break on an as of yet unverified health underwriter. Early accounts of the assault on Banner … Read more
Throughout the last few weeks, huge data dumps occurred from extraordinary cyberattacks on MySpace, LinkedIn, and Tumblr. More lately, in excess of 33 million mutilated Twitter accounts were registered online for sale. These accounts are thought to have been mutilated making use of the records gotten in the LinkedIn break. Provided the quantity of healthcare … Read more
Earlier this year, Stamford Podiatry Group P.C., has found out that an illegal third party accessed to its computer systems for a period of nearly 2 months. The intruder was capable to see company data and possibly accessed the electronic medicinal record (EMR) database also. 40,491 patients have now been informed of the secrecy break … Read more
Roughly 1K patients in Southern Arizona have received notices of a break of safeguarded health information after the thievery of a doctor’s record. The record had been dumped in the automobile of a doctor who performed for Emergency Medicine Associates, which delivered ER staff for Carondelet Health Network hospices in Tucson. A burglar broke into … Read more
Sylvia Matthews Burwell, HHS Secretary has publicized the release of the ultimate Data Safety Policy Rules Framework for the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI) which was introduced by President Obama in the early part of 2015. The Security Principles Framework was upgraded to assist healthcare companies that take part in the PMI know the safety measures that should … Read more
Every month the Division of Veteran Matters issues a statement to Congress on the info safety cases experienced by Veteran Affairs (VA) services during the month. Protected health information (PHI) disclosures increased substantially in April, with 2,105 old-timers’ PHI being unintentionally exposed or disclosed. In total, 2556 old-timers were affected by information safety cases in … Read more
As per an advisory released by the Division of Homeland Security, an admired drug cabinet system has been discovered to have more than 1,400 weaknesses, a lot of which might be abused distantly using freely available activities. Additionally, the abuses might be carried out by an aggressor with a miserable degree of talent. The admired drug cabinet … Read more
The illegal sharing of secret health info on Facebook has led to a 911 dispatcher losing her job, however that might not be the conclusion of it. The patient whose secrecy was breached thinks the loss of service isn’t punishment sufficient for the secrecy privacy breach and desires criminal accusations to be submitted for the secrecy infringement. … Read more
During late November, a member of the public found many documents at a recycling center which seemed to have come from hospitals administrated by Community Mercy Health Partners. The documents included complete info concerning patients who had gotten medical services between 2005 and 2013. The info in the documents contained patients’ names, physicians’ names, health … Read more
St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital has released a media declaration providing more information on the 29,156-record data infringement that happened on October 31, 2015. The hospital has clarified that the infringement happened when an unknown person entered a top-secret space of the hospital and thieved a thumb drive having a limited amount of patient data. The device … Read more
Centene Corporation, Wisconsin-based health insurer, has declared the loss of 6 unencrypted computer hard drives having the safeguarded health information of roughly 950,000 of its members. The hard drives were being utilized for a job to make better the health results of plan members. The persons affected by the security infringement had all received laboratory … Read more
New West Health Services has begun informing 25,000 patients concerning the loss of a password-protected, unencrypted laptop containing wide-ranging Protected Health Information. Latest West Health Services Data Infringement Affects 25,000 Patients New West Health Services, a not-for-profit provider of subsidized health policies, including Medicare Supplement and Medicare Advantage plans, has informed the thievery of … Read more
An infringement of PHI caused by a worker of a business partner who fell for a telephone phishing fraud has been informed by Blue Shield of California. Nearly 21,000 people have been influenced by the security infringement. Insurers and healthcare providers must conduct staff training to make sure workers are conscious of the danger of … Read more
Arnett Hospital of Indiana University Health has notified 29,324 patients concerning the possible revelation of their Protected Health Information (PHI) following an unencrypted flash drive vanished from its emergency division. The flash drive was found to be lost on November 20, 2015, and an inspection was instantly started. Work is continuing to try to find … Read more
On Tuesday Cottage Health System informed its 11,000 sick persons to instruct them that a few of their PHIs were revealed as a consequence of a server occurrence that happened in October 2015. For two weeks, patients had their names and addresses, details of medicinal findings and processes, and their Social Security numbers displayed as … Read more
Hartford Hospital as well as one of its BAs, EMC Corporation (EMC), have contracted to a settlement with the Connecticut OIG on the 2012 thievery of a laptop having the unencrypted files of 8,883 Connecticut inhabitants. Hartford Hospital and EMC have contracted to a payment of $90,000 to settle the happening. The contract was reached willingly, and … Read more
Insurance Data Services (IDS), a Wyoming-based medicinal invoicing firm, has begun to send break notice letters to patients of Claystone Clinical Associates, one of its HIPAA-covered customers, to notify them of the possible revelation of some of their Protected Health Information (PHI). A West Michigan based Delivery Service had been contracted by IDS to deliver … Read more
Offsite storing of paper medical files might be convenient if facility room is restricted; but as Kailspell-based healthcare supplier, Urology Associates lately found the decision to store files offsite might prove to be costly. The firm had taken help of a local storing service and rented a unit to stock boxes of old medical files. … Read more
The cloud presents healthcare suppliers the chance to simplify the provision and administration of medical facilities. However, healthcare suppliers trying to use the ability of the cloud might possibly be putting Protected Health Information (PHI) at peril. HIPAA needs covered entities to always protect PHI, whether it takes the shape of digital files or physical … Read more
A former company belonging to Crown Point Medical Tests has breached the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) when it did not securely throw away files having the Protected Health Information (PHI) of more than 166 people. The victims had earlier had medical checks handled via My Fast Lab. Barry Walker of Cedar Lake … Read more