What You Should Know:
- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a significant reorganization aimed at enhancing its capabilities in technology, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence (AI).
- This strategic move is designed to address the growing complexities and opportunities within the healthcare and human services landscape.
Key Changes and New Roles
Historically, responsibilities for technology, data, and AI policy were dispersed across
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Healthcare Cybersecurity | Healthcare Data Security | Ransomware | Hospital Security Breaches
Healthcare Organizations at Risk of Data Breach Due to Insecure File Sharing Practices
What You Should Know:
- A new report by Metomic, a data security company, reveals concerning vulnerabilities in how healthcare organizations handle sensitive data.
- The report, titled "Healthcare Data Crisis - Uncovering the Alarming Gaps in Data Security and Compliance," highlights the prevalence of insecure file-sharing practices that put patient information at risk.
Key Findings:
Exposed PII: A staggering 25% of publicly shared files contain Personally Identifiable
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Securing Your Hospital Network: Vendor Solutions Beyond Encryption
Modern healthcare environments are charged with processing massive amounts of patient data in tandem with an extensive network of connected clinical and administrative devices that can be infiltrated by hackers to access the entire system and hold mission-critical and patient-related information and services hostage. The robust data sets that can be exposed as well as the ensuing repercussions to reputation and profit means that the average cost of a healthcare data breach in 2022 was US$10.1
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White House, Microsoft, Google Partner to Bolster Rural Hospital Cybersecurity
What You Should Know:
- In a collaborative effort championed by the White House, the American Hospital Association (AHA), Microsoft, and Google announced a new initiative to bolster cybersecurity defenses in rural hospitals across the United States.
- The cybersecurity-focused initiative comes in response to the rising threat of cyberattacks on healthcare providers and the critical role rural hospitals play in their communities.
The AHA: A Leader in Cybersecurity
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Ascension Restores EHR Access Florida, Alabama, Austin Markets After Cyberattack
What You Should Know:
- Ascension announced it has restored EHR access in Florida, Alabama, and Austin markets affected by a recent cyberattack.
- Ascension anticipates completing EHR access across its entire network by June 14th. This will allow clinicians to access patient records seamlessly, mirroring the pre-attack workflow.
- Ascension Rx retail, home delivery, and specialty pharmacy sites are now fully operational. Healthcare providers can now transmit prescriptions
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US Government Invests $50M in Automating Hospital Cybersecurity Defense
What You Should Know:
- The healthcare industry faces a growing threat: cyberattacks targeting hospital IT systems. In response, the US government's Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) has pledged over $50 million to fund a groundbreaking program called UPGRADE (Universal PatchinG and Remediation for Autonomous DEfense).
- The success of UPGRADE has the potential to significantly improve hospital cybersecurity and protect patient care from cyber threats. By
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Why It’s Time to Go on the Offensive with Healthcare Cybersecurity
Being an avid soccer fan, player, and coach, I’ve heard countless times that “the best defense is a good offense.” As a cybersecurity professional, the concept of taking active steps to improve your team’s position resonates. However, cybersecurity programs within and outside the healthcare industry typically focus on reactive approaches.
The stakes are too high in healthcare to wait for a hacker to strike your organization, and meanwhile, the scale and scope of cyberattacks continue to
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Healthcare’s Trillion-Dollar Data Breach Crisis: Cybersecurity is a Matter of Life and Death
Between January 1 and April 1, 2024, at least 16.6 million individuals were impacted by data breaches across the healthcare industry. Of those, 16.3 million - or 98 percent - were hacking/IT incidents according to the HIPAA Breach Report generated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The financial implications of these breaches are staggering with some industry estimates the impact to top $1 trillion.
The healthcare sector has become the most
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Researchers Uncover Critical Vulnerabilities in GE HealthCare Ultrasound Systems and EchoPAC Software
What You Should Know:
- Security researchers at Nozomi Networks Labs have identified a total of 11 vulnerabilities affecting GE HealthCare's Vivid family of ultrasound machines, the accompanying Common Service Desktop web application, and EchoPAC PC software.
- These vulnerabilities could be exploited by attackers to disrupt critical medical procedures, compromise patient data privacy, and hinder accurate diagnoses.
Vulnerable Devices and Potential Impacts
Vivid T9
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Ascension Investigating Cybersecurity Event Potentially Affecting Clinical Operations
What You Should Know:
- Ascension, one of the nation's largest nonprofit and Catholic health systems, announced today they are investigating a potential cybersecurity event detected on Wednesday, May 8th.
- According to a statement released by Ascension, unusual activity was identified on specific technology network systems. The nature of this activity suggests a potential cyberattack, though the investigation is ongoing.
Ascension Mitigation Efforts
Ascension has taken
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