A ransomware attack earlier this year on UnitedHealth-owned health tech company Change Healthcare likely stands as one of the largest data breaches of U.S. health and medical data in history.
Months after the February data breach, a “substantial proportion of people living in America” are receiving notice by mail that their personal and health information was stolen by cybercriminals during the cyberattack on Change Healthcare. At least 100 million people are now known to be affected by the breach. Change Healthcare processes billing and insurance for hundreds of thousands of hospitals, pharmacies and medical practices across the U.S. healthcare sector. As such, it collects and stores vast amounts of highly sensitive medical data on patients in the United States.
Read more…
Source: TechCrunch
Related:
- Ransomware attacks now to blame for half of healthcare data breaches
January 15, 2021
Almost half of all data breaches in hospitals and the wider healthcare sector are as a result of ransomware attacks according to new research. Ransomware gangs are increasingly adding an extra layer of extortion to attacks by not only encrypting networks and demanding hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars in bitcoin to restore them, ...
- Hackers leak stolen Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine data online
January 12, 2021
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) today revealed that some of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine data stolen from its servers in December was leaked online. EMA is a decentralized agency responsible for reviewing and approving COVID-19 vaccines, as well as for evaluating, monitoring, and supervising any new medicines introduced to the EU. “The ongoing investigation of the cyberattack ...
- UK: Fake NHS text asks for bank details in return for coronavirus vaccine
January 8, 2021
People are being warned about a fake NHS text which is demanding bank details from people waiting for a coronavirus vaccine. Liverpool City Council said in a “scam alert” that the message had been “circulating”, advising people they were eligible for a COVID-19 jab. The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) also tweeted a warning, reminding those waiting ...
- Disgruntled Former Employee Disrupted Shipments of Needed PPE During Pandemic
January 6, 2021
When the COVID-19 pandemic reached the United States last spring, a Georgia-based medical equipment packaging company worked to get personal protective equipment (PPE) to medical workers treating sick patients. But a disgruntled former employee thwarted those efforts at a time when protective equipment was desperately needed. Christopher Dobbins, a vice-president in the company who’d been fired a ...
- Cyberattacks on Healthcare Spike 45% Since November
January 5, 2021
As COVID-19 ravages international healthcare systems, cybercriminals have decided to leverage the increasingly dire circumstances to squeeze a few bucks out of the human suffering. According to new findings from Check Point Software, healthcare organizations have seen a 45-percent increase in cyberattacks since November, which is more than double other industry sectors, which a average 22-percent ...
- Singapore police had used COVID-19 contact tracing data in murder probe
January 5, 2021
The Singapore government has defended its decision to allow the police to access the country’s COVID-19 contact tracing data when necessary, in order to safeguard public safety and interest. It reveals that data collected via the TraceTogether platform already has been tapped at least once to assist in a homicide investigation. Its defence came a day ...