The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) years-long effort to modernize its Health Breach Notification Rule (HBNR) in the midst of a swiftly changing technological landscape appears to be coming to an end. On Thursday, May 30,...more
7/2/2024
/ Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Breach ,
HIPAA Breach Notification Rule ,
Patient Privacy Rights ,
PHI ,
Popular ,
Reporting Requirements
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) years-long effort to modernize its Health Breach Notification Rule (HBNR) in the midst of a swiftly changing technological landscape appears to be coming to an end. On Thursday, May 30,...more
With a couple of “firsts,” the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is signaling that it is cracking down on healthcare organizations that fail to identify and address cybersecurity...more
12/21/2023
/ Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
HIPAA Violations ,
OCR ,
Phishing Scams ,
Popular ,
Ransomware ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Vulnerability Assessments
Direct-to-consumer health and wellness applications are forewarned: the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is proposing changes to the Health Breach Notification Rule (HBNR), 16 C.F.R. part 318, that, if finalized, would cement...more
6/9/2023
/ Breach Notification Rule ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Information Technologies ,
Healthcare ,
Mobile Health Apps ,
Patient Privacy Rights ,
Policy Statement ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform
Companies that make ransomware payments, whether they be the victim of a ransomware attack or entities that facilitate such payments, should review the updated advisory issued by U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of...more
9/28/2021
/ Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Hackers ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Ransomware ,
Risk-Based Approaches ,
SDN List
The New York Department of Financial Services ("NYDFS") recently released its Cyber Insurance Risk Framework (the “Framework”), which provides best practices for managing cyber insurance risk....more
2/25/2021
/ Commercial Insurance Policies ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Insurance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Hackers ,
Information Technology ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Popular ,
Risk Management
While fighting a surge of new coronavirus infections in many parts of the country, healthcare providers must also be prepared to defend against ransomware. On October 28, 2020, the FBI, the U.S. Department of Health and Human...more
10/30/2020
/ Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) ,
FBI ,
Hackers ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Homeland Security Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) ,
Ransomware ,
Vulnerability Assessments
The latest HIPAA resolution agreement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is a reminder that healthcare providers must take the high road when responding to unflattering online...more
10/8/2019
/ Calculation of Penalties ,
Corrective Actions ,
Data Breach ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Breach ,
Information Technology ,
Notice of Privacy Practices ,
OCR ,
Online Reviews ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
PHI ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Settlement ,
Social Media
The effects of a data breach can be disastrous for any company, but especially for a nonprofit organization, not only because of the harm to the affected individuals, including those served by the organization, but also the...more
Nonprofit organizations often collect personal information from a variety of sources such as donors, employees, volunteers, and the people who benefit from their services. This information is diverse and might include credit...more
It is safe to say that there has been much fear and confusion over the European Union (EU) General Data Protection Rule, or GDPR. ...more
5/1/2018
/ Cooperative Compliance Regime ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
EU ,
EU Data Protection Laws ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
International Data Transfers ,
Personal Data ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Risk Management
As has been widely reported, on May 12, 2017, organizations around the world, including Britain’s National Health Service, found their data held hostage by actors using a new variant of ransomware called WannaCry. According...more
5/15/2017
/ Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Data Breach ,
Email ,
Hackers ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospitals ,
OCR ,
Phishing Scams ,
Ransomware ,
US-CERT
Children’s Medical Center of Dallas (Children’s) was hit with a $3.2 million civil penalty from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for failing to take steps to properly protect...more
2/8/2017
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Electronic Medical Records ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
HIPAA Breach ,
Hospitals ,
OCR ,
Penalties ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
PHI ,
Security Standards
As the East Coast prepares for the arrival of Hurricane Matthew, covered entities and business associates should take the opportunity to remind their workforce members to safeguard protected health information (PHI) that is...more
10/6/2016
/ Business Associates ,
Covered Entities ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Disaster Preparedness ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
Medical Records ,
Natural Disasters ,
Patient Privacy Rights ,
PHI ,
Severe Weather
The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced on August 4, 2016, a settlement agreement with Advocate Health Care Network, an integrated healthcare system with ten hospitals and a...more
8/10/2016
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
HIPAA Breach ,
Hospitals ,
OCR ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
PHI
On July 10, 2015, the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced its second settlement of the year for violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act...more
7/16/2015
/ Compliance ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Data-Sharing ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Information Technologies ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
Hospitals ,
Laptop Computers ,
OCR ,
PHI ,
Settlement
On June 20, 2014, Governor Rick Scott signed into law the Florida Information Protection Act of 2014 ("FIPA"), which became effective July 1, 2014. FIPA expands the obligations of businesses and government entities that...more
A judge in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida has approved a $3 million data breach class action settlement agreement between AvMed, Inc. and plaintiffs. The settlement arises out of a...more
Effective April 9, 2014, Microsoft will no longer provide technical support or security updates for the Windows XP operating system. According to Microsoft, personal computers running Windows XP after April 8, 2014 should not...more
On December 31, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") announced that Accretive Health, Inc., ("Accretive") agreed to settle charges that the company's inadequate data security measures exposed sensitive consumer...more