Why Healthcare Security Matters

guest · Sep 3, 2019

82% of Healthcare Organizations Have Experienced a Cyberattack on Their IoT Devices
September 3, 2019
https://www.hipaajournal.com/82-of-...perienced-a-cyberattack-on-their-iot-devices/

82% of healthcare providers that have implemented Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices have experienced a cyberattack on at least one of those devices over the course of the past 12 months, according to the Global Connected Industries Cybersecurity Survey from Swedish software company Irdeto.
For the report, Irdeto surveyed 700 security leaders from healthcare organizations and firms in the transportation, manufacturing, and IT industries in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, China, and Japan. Attacks on IoT devices were common across all those industry sectors, but healthcare organizations experienced the most cyberattacks out of all industries under study.

When asked about the consequences of a cyberattack on IoT devices, the biggest concern was theft of patient data, which was rated as the main threat by 39% of healthcare respondents. Attacks on IoT devices can also threaten patient safety. 20% of respondents considered patient safety a major risk and 30% of healthcare providers that experienced an IoT cyberattack said patient safety was actually put at risk as a direct result of the attack.
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guest · Sep 3, 2019

Temple University Health System back online after cyber attack
September 2, 2019
https://kywnewsradio.radio.com/articles/news/temple-university-health-system-back-online-after-hack

A Philadelphia hospital is getting back online after falling victim to a cyber attack.
Temple University Health System's computer system was hacked last week, according to officials.

They say the cyber attack compromised numerous operations from email to scheduling.
The attack began Wednesday, and the affected systems were not brought back online until Friday
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guest · Sep 4, 2019

mood said: ↑

122,000 Providence Health Plan customers may be affected by data breach
August 30, 2019
https://www.oregonlive.com/news/201...customers-may-be-affected-by-data-breach.html
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Third-Party Security: Guarding Against Complacency
September 3, 2019
https://www.govinfosecurity.com/third-party-security-guarding-against-complacency-a-13009

What lessons are emerging from the Dominion National security incident and others involving third parties? The most important one is simply this: Organizations must guard against becoming complacent about the security practices of the vendors they use.
Emerging Lessons
Increasingly, hackers are targeting vendors that serve major clients as a way of having a broader impact.

"The Dominion National attack represents a clear escalation of aggressiveness by the hackers. It is just another example where attackers are adapting their tactics to move up the supply chain toward higher priority, and often softer targets," says Clyde Hewitt, executive adviser at the security consultancy CynergisTek. "By focusing near the top of the supply chain, hackers can infect tens or hundreds of organizations simultaneously and harvest many more records."
This escalation represents a new risk model for organizations and requires security officers to work outside of their "comfort zones," Hewitt adds. "Addressing security risks in the supply chain is complex, requiring a closely orchestrated response that involves procurement, legal, compliance - all led by the security official."
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guest · Sep 5, 2019

Artesia General Hospital Phishing Attack Impacts 13,905 Patients
September 5, 2019
https://www.hipaajournal.com/artesia-general-hospital-phishing-attack-impacts-13905-patients/

Artesia General Hospital in Artesia, NM, has discovered the protected health information (PHI) of 13,905 patients has been compromised in a phishing attack.

The breach was detected when an employee’s email account was discovered to have been used to send unauthorized emails. The breach was detected on June 18, 2019 and the forensic analysis revealed the account had been accessed by an unauthorized individual between June 11 to June 18.
A leading computer forensics company was engaged to investigate the breach, but no evidence of data theft was discovered. To date, no reports have been received to suggest PHI has been stolen or misused.

The email accounts contained patients’ names, birth dates, patient account numbers, medical record numbers, health insurance information, and some treatment and/or clinical information, such as diagnoses, dates of service, and provider names. A small subset of affected patients also had Social Security numbers exposed.
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AGH: Some patients’ private information compromised in phishing incident

FanJ · Sep 5, 2019

The Dutch "Policy Authority PKIoverheid" is going to replace about 3000 PKI certificates in the Healthcare, so-called UZI-certificates.
It is related to a much broader PKI certificates problem in the Netherlands where certficates were issued with 63-bits serial numbers where it should have been 64-bits.

Article in Dutch at security.nl :
https://www.security.nl/posting/623214/Logius laat 3_000 UZI-certificaten in zorgsector vervangen

Official Logius site about it, in Dutch:
https://www.logius.nl/actueel/update-uitgifte-servercertificaten

Logius is saying that the international community has been informed.

Notes:
1. The dutch word "overheid" means "government".
2. UZI stands for "Unieke Zorgverlener Identificatie" which means "Unique Healthcare Provider Identification", see https://www.uziregister.nl/english
3. Logius is the digital government service of the Netherlands Ministry of the Interior.
4. At the moment I can't find English articles about it; sorry.

guest · Sep 5, 2019

Multiple Email Accounts Compromised in UC Health Phishing Attack
September 5, 2019
https://www.hipaajournal.com/multiple-email-accounts-compromised-in-uc-health-phishing-attack/

University of Cincinnati Health (UC Health) is investigating a security breach that saw the email accounts of multiple employees accessed by an unauthorized individual.

A forensic analysis of UC Health email system was unable to establish whether the attackers opened or copied any emails or email attachments. UC Health is attempting to determine exactly which patients have been affected and notification letters will be sent “in the coming weeks.” UC Health announced the breach on its website on September 4, 2019.
UC Health will be enhancing email security and re-educating employees to help them identify phishing and other malicious emails.
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Conway Regional Medical Center Phishing Attack Reported
Conway Regional Medical Center in Conway, AR has discovered patient information has been compromised in a recent phishing attack. The breach was detected when suspicious activity was observed in employee email accounts. The investigation confirmed the accounts had been subjected to unauthorized access as a result of employees responding to phishing emails.
The medical center is reviewing its security policies and procedures, which will be updated to reduce the risk of further data breaches.
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guest · Sep 5, 2019

New York Ambulette Company Owners Plead Guilty in More than $8.6 Million Health Care Kickback Scheme
September 5, 2019
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-...y-more-86-million-health-care-kickback-scheme

Igor Radinovskiy, 60, and Aleksandr Radinovskiy, 37, father and son, both of Brooklyn, New York, each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to offer and pay health care kickbacks and one count of conspiracy to defraud the lawful functions of the IRS before U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven M. Gold of the Eastern District of New York. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled.
The defendants were the co-owners and officers of the ambulette company Sabe Ambulette Services Inc., which did business as Mobility Transportation.

According to court filings and admissions, Igor Radinovskiy and Aleksandr Radinovskiy participated in a conspiracy in which they paid more than $8.6 million in kickbacks to co-conspirator companies not enrolled in the Medicaid program, for the referral of beneficiaries recruited by those co-conspirators, so that Sabe Ambulette could falsely bill Medicaid as if Sabe had transported those beneficiaries to various clinics in Brooklyn and Queens.
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guest · Sep 5, 2019

Health Data Breach Tally Spikes; AMCA Breach Reports Added
Total Number of Individuals Affected by Breaches Reported in 2019 Triples
September 5, 2019
https://www.govinfosecurity.com/health-data-breach-tally-spikes-amca-breach-reports-added-a-13032

The federal tally of major health data breaches has spiked over the last month, mostly because of the American Medical Collection Agency incident, which led to nearly two dozen breach reports from the firm's affected clients.

So far in 2019, 332 breaches affecting 37.5 million individuals have been added to the HHS tally. That means nearly 70 percent of the individuals affected by those breaches were victims of the AMCA incident, which was first disclosed by the New York-based debt collections agency in June.
As of Thursday, a total of 2,887 breaches affecting a total of nearly 229 million individuals have been posted to the federal tally since its inception in 2009.
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guest · Sep 6, 2019

More cyber-attack opportunities to health sector seen
September 6, 2019
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1079710

As the healthcare sector becomes more digital, cybercriminals are seeing more possibilities to attack this vital industry.
This was emphasized by Stephan Neumeier, Managing Director for Asia Pacific (APAC) at Kaspersky, in a statement during the start of the 5th Cyber Security Weekend here Thursday.

"As rapid digitalization penetrates the healthcare sector, cybercriminals are seeing more opportunities to attack this lucrative and critical industry, which is honestly not equipped enough to face this virtual danger,” he added.

This is clearly demonstrated with confidential medical records being hacked and breached with ease by these cybercriminals.
This is highlighted by the fact that attacks against hospitals and pharmaceuticals have been happening worldwide, especially in the more advanced countries in the west. The recent years, however, have seen the threat creeping towards APAC.
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guest · Sep 6, 2019

Prisma Health uses ExtraHop to protect patient data while delivering better care and outcomes
September 6, 2019
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2019/09/06/extrahop-prisma-health/

ExtraHop, the leader in cloud-native network detection and response (NDR) for the hybrid enterprise, announced not-for-profit health organization Prisma Health uses ExtraHop to protect sensitive patient data while ensuring better patient outcomes and experience through improved application performance.

“The ability to easily access a record, or to have a doctor rapidly send a prescription to your pharmacy before your appointment is over—those things matter. Every service disruption meant a hit to patient experience.”
With ExtraHop, Prisma Health also has full visibility into all encrypted traffic without compromising data security or running afoul of HIPAA regulations.
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guest · Sep 7, 2019

Major data breach as gender identity clinic discloses patients’ email addresses
An NHS clinic exposed the email addresses of nearly 2,000 transgender patients in a ‘horrendous breach of privacy
September 7, 2019
https://metro.co.uk/2019/09/07/majo...-discloses-patients-email-addresses-10701772/

The Charring Cross Gender Identity Clinic in London sent out a mass email about an art competition to patients and forgot to blind copy the details of other patients.
This meant everyone on the email list going through or considering gender therapy could see each other’s email address.

It is reported the employee responsible sent out a second email which blind copied other addresses when they realised their mistake.
‘It’s very alarming because it could have an impact on people’s lives.
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guest · Sep 9, 2019

Potential health data breach exposing names, medical conditions discovered by privacy researcher
September 9, 2019
https://election.ctvnews.ca/potenti...ns-discovered-by-privacy-researcher-1.4581914

Up on the roof of the Vancouver Public Library, privacy researcher Sarah Jamie Lewis connects a small antenna to her laptop to listen in on what appears to be a major ongoing breach of sensitive health data of patients in the Vancouver area.
For months, she says, personal information has been sent over unencrypted radio frequencies. This kind of data could leave patients vulnerable to identity theft, financial crime, potentially even violence.
Lewis first discovered the breach in November and immediately alerted the local health authority. When she didn’t receive any assurances that they had fully dealt with the matter, she shared her findings with Attention Control.

To confirm the data’s authenticity, Lewis was able to cross-reference the doctor names, hospitals and patient names exposed with publicly available records, like news stories and obituaries. It’s unclear exactly where the messages are coming from but they appear to relate to moving patients, such as a patient escort service, bed transfers or ambulance.

“It's disgusting that it's been at least eight months and it's not been fixed, it's probably been there far longer. And the thing that really makes me angry is that no one seems to care about this.”
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ronjor · Sep 9, 2019

Hospital Fined for Slow Records Release

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee (HealthInfoSec) September 9, 2019
HHS OCR Says Case Is First in New 'Right to Access' Initiative
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guest · Sep 9, 2019

Utah County Medical Group to Notify Patients About Cybersecurity Attack
https://premierfamily.net/questions-about-notification-letter/

On July 8, 2019, Premier Family Medical (Premier) experienced a ransomware attack from an unknown, unauthorized third party. As a result, Premier was temporarily unable to access data from certain systems within its organization. Premier promptly informed law enforcement and engaged technical consultants to investigate and regain access.

“Even though our investigation has found no reason to believe patient information was accessed or taken, we are very concerned that this event even occurred and have taken steps to further enhance the security of our systems.”
Patients who have been treated at any of Premier’s ten Utah County locations will receive notification of the ransomware event later next week, including information about how to address concerns or questions to Premier.
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320,000 Patients affected (HHS’s public breach tool)

guest · Sep 10, 2019

We Asked Prosecutors if Health Insurance Companies Care About Fraud. They Laughed at Us.
To protect their networks and bottom lines, health insurers don’t aggressively pursue widespread fraud, making it easy for scammers
September 10, 2019
https://www.propublica.org/article/...companies-care-about-fraud-they-laughed-at-us

He prosecutes medical fraud cases for the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office in Oakland, California. And when he calls insurers, he’s in pursuit of criminals stealing from them and their clients. But, he said, they typically respond with something akin to a shrug. “There’s no sense of urgency, even though this is their company that’s getting ripped off.”

It’s not just Murphy. I called health care fraud prosecutors across California to ask what insurers were doing to help bring cases against those plundering health care dollars. More than one simply burst out laughing. “Not much,” one prosecutor said.
The federal Department of Justice and state Medicaid Fraud Control Units file thousands of criminal and civil cases a year [...] But we rarely hear about the fraud enforcement efforts of private health insurers.
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guest · Sep 11, 2019

Avoiding Breach Notification Blunders
September 10, 2019
https://www.databreachtoday.com/avoiding-breach-notification-blunders-a-13055

A mishap involving the mailing of breach notification letters has led a Tennessee hospice to issue a "corrective" privacy breach notification.
The incident is yet another example of why healthcare organizations need to carefully scrutinize their breach response and notification processes.

On Sept. 6, Alive Hospice in Nashville, Tennessee, issued a "corrective" breach notification statement explaining that an earlier letter in July to notify individuals and next of kin affected by a May phishing incident had gone awry.
"On July 3, Alive Hospice undertook a mailing of notification letters to individuals potentially affected by a recent data privacy incident," notes the Sept. 6 statement from Alive. "On or about July 9, Alive learned that an error occurred in the address export process for the mailing, which resulted in the notification letters being addressed to the incorrect recipient."
A Second Breach?
"HHS' Office for Civil Rights could view the incident in which the wrong individual was sent correspondence from the covered entity as a reportable breach," he says.
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ronjor · Sep 11, 2019

It just got very hard for Amazon’s online pharmacy to access patient medication data

Christina Farr@chrissyfarr 11 Sep 2019
Surescripts just made it a lot harder for Amazon PillPack to recruit and retain its patients.
The company said it is terminating its relationship with ReMy Health, a third party that supplied PillPack with information about patient prescriptions.
Now, PillPack has to manually get that data by asking the patient and hoping that they remember their prescription history.
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guest · Sep 11, 2019

DejaBlue Vulnerabilities - Siemens Healthineers Products
September 10, 2019
https://new.siemens.com/global/en/products/services/cert.html#SecurityPublications

Siemens Healthineers is aware of the reports about the vulnerabilities reported by Microsoft on August 13th, known as DejaBlue or CVE-2019-1181/1182.
The vulnerability could allow an unauthenticated remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the target system if the system exposes the service to the network.

All Siemens Healthineers products from all business lines have been evaluated. Most Siemens Healthineers products are not affected by the vulnerabilities because they do not provide the option to activate the Remote Desktop Service, implement other controls that mitigate the vulnerabilities, use a version of Microsoft Windows that is not affected, or are not based on Microsoft Windows.
This advisory (https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-187667.pdf) provides a full list of affected products from Siemens Healthineers and provides recommendations to mitigate the vulnerabilities.
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guest · Sep 12, 2019

HSCC Publishes Guidance on Healthcare Information Sharing Organizations
September 12, 2019
https://www.hipaajournal.com/hscc-p...healthcare-information-sharing-organizations/

The Healthcare and Public Health Sector Coordinating Council (HSCC) has published guidance on cybersecurity information sharing organizations in the healthcare sector.

HSCC is a public-private partnership of more than 200 companies and organizations, including health IT companies, medical device manufacturers, laboratories, pharmaceutical companies, health plans, payers and government agencies. Its role is to provide collaborative solutions to help mitigate cybersecurity threats affecting the healthcare industry.
The aim of the HIC-MISO is to help healthcare organizations understand the importance of cybersecurity information sharing and to provide the resources they need to start participating in threat sharing
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ronjor · Sep 12, 2019

GE Healthcare wins FDA clearance for algorithms to spot type of collapsed lung

By Larry Dignan for Between the Lines September 12, 2019
The company's Critical Care Suite, a collection of AI algorithms, is designed to prioritize critical cases for pneumothorax, a type of collapsed lung.
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guest · Sep 12, 2019

New Jersey Doctor Pleads Guilty to $13 Million Conspiracy to Defraud Medicare with Telemedicine Orders of Orthotic Braces
September 12, 2019
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-...nspiracy-defraud-medicare-telemedicine-orders

A Toms River, New Jersey physician pleaded guilty today for his role in a $13 million health care fraud scheme, which previously resulted in charges in April 2019 against 23 other defendants in one of the largest health care fraud cases investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) and prosecuted by the Department of Justice.

Joseph DeCorso, 62, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan of the District of New Jersey. DeCorso’s sentencing is set for Jan. 8, 2020, before Judge Sheridan.
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guest · Sep 12, 2019

South Florida Health Care Facility Owner Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Role in Largest Health Care Fraud Scheme Ever Charged by The Department of Justice
September 12, 2019
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/sout...nced-20-years-prison-role-largest-health-care

A federal district judge sentenced a south Florida health care facility owner to 20 years in prison today after being found guilty in the largest health care fraud scheme charged by the U.S. Justice Department. The case involves a decades-long scheme of kickbacks and money laundering in connection with fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid for services deemed medically unnecessary.

hilip Esformes, 50, of Miami Beach, Florida, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola of the Southern District of Florida, who also sentenced Esformes to three years supervised release. A hearing to determine restitution and forfeiture has been scheduled for Nov. 21.
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guest · Sep 13, 2019

Moody's: Healthcare cyberattacks on the rise, small hospitals most vulnerable
September 12, 2019
https://www.beckershospitalreview.c...the-rise-small-hospitals-most-vulnerable.html

The interconnected nature of hospital operations and information technology presents a significant and growing cyberattack risk for hospitals, particularly smaller organizations that lack enough resources to absorb any financial impact, according to a Sept. 12 Moody's Investors Service report.

Small hospitals, especially critical access hospitals, will be most vulnerable in the aftermath of a cyberattack because they usually lack resources to staff cybersecurity roles and typically have outdated technology that is easy to hack. However, all hospitals will be subject to cybersecurity threats in some capacity.
Here are three ways hospitals will be affected by cyber threats and attacks, according to Moody's: [...]
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guest · Sep 13, 2019

mood said: ↑

This is the final story on the stolen laptop files.
N.W.T. government handed out unencrypted laptops, then 1 with public's health data was stolen
Qualifications of some IT staff and managers are questionable, according to source
March 11, 2019
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/nwt-stolen-laptop-encryption-it-department-1.5044118
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N.W.T. faces lawsuit over health data breach that could affect all residents
September 12, 2019
https://www.airdrietoday.com/nation...reach-that-could-affect-all-residents-1689584

The Northwest Territories is facing a lawsuit over a stolen laptop containing medical files that could include information on every resident in the territory.

"I would be surprised if it's anything less than 100 per cent," said Steven Cooper, an Edmonton lawyer who has filed a statement of claim in the N.W.T. Supreme Court.
The lawsuit stems from a government-owned laptop that was stolen from inside a parked vehicle in Ottawa in May 2018. The laptop has never been found.

On that computer were thousands of unencrypted medical files of people who sought medical attention in the territory, including visitors. It's not clear what time period the files cover.
The government has acknowledged that at least 80 per cent of the territory's residents were part of the breach.
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guest · Sep 13, 2019

Cybercriminals shop for admin access to healthcare portals
Administrator access to backend systems is becoming the holy grail for attackers
September 13, 2019
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/cybercriminals-shop-for-admin-access-to-healthcare-portals/

When people think about hackers and their targets, most assume cybercriminals are after bank account numbers or financial institutions. But a new study from cybersecurity firm IntSights shows hackers are now honing in on healthcare institutions for lucrative information to steal.
IntSight's new research report "Chronic [Cyber] Pain: Exposed & Misconfigured Databases in the Healthcare Industry" looks at what methods cybercriminals are using and what healthcare organizations can do to protect themselves.
Honing in on healthcare
"Historically speaking," Maor said. "The healthcare industry has not had as robust security as the financial industry, which are usually targeted. Once cybercriminals started realizing that financial institutions are harder targets, they saw that healthcare is extremely useful for all kinds of attacks."

Many hospital systems force their employees to use older versions of browsers, which makes entire networks vulnerable to cybercriminals. Hackers have realized troves of valuable data exist locked behind these weak security systems.
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