Cloud-based electronic health records vendor NextGen Healthcare is so far facing a dozen proposed class action lawsuits filed in the last week in the same Georgia federal court following the company's disclosure this month of a data breach affecting 1 million individuals.
The prospect of class action lawsuits being filed in the aftermath of a major data breach often has more impact on breached healthcare organizations than the potential for fines and enforcement actions by government regulators, says attorney Jeff Westerman of Westerman Law Corp.
Ransomware operations have become expert at finding ways to make a victim pay. But experts say there are multiple steps healthcare sector entities in particular can take to better protect themselves and ensure that they can quickly restore systems and never have to consider paying a ransom.
Ransomware gangs rely on shotgun-style attacks using phishing or stolen remote access credentials to target individuals. This strategy snares less poorly prepared organizations, and that often means healthcare entities. Experts share insights on this plague on healthcare and what to do about it.
Especially for healthcare organizations, repelling ransomware attacks hinges on having robust monitoring and defenses in place to spot the signs of an unfolding attack and shut it down before crypto-locking malware gets unleashed, says Peter Mackenzie, director of incident response at Sophos.
The prospect of attackers using voice impersonation, deepfake technologies and misinformation against healthcare sector entities is a serious threat that entities need to be closely monitoring, says Dave Summit, vice president of cybersecurity at Florida Cancer Specialists and Research Institute.
Medical providers are facing growing data security and privacy threats from their trusted partners - a wide array of business associates from medical records software firms to debt collection agencies. Learn why breaches are up 102% and what providers can do to defend against them.
With the surge in ransomware and other major hacking incidents affecting third-party suppliers, it is more critical than ever for healthcare sector entities to diligently scrutinize threats and risks involving their vendors, says Denise Anderson, president and CEO of the Health-ISAC.
Based on known ransomware attacks against the healthcare sector, here's good news: The volume of attacks seems to have declined, says Allan Liska, a principal intelligence analyst at Recorded Future. Unfortunately, most such attacks not only trigger downtime but include the theft of patient data.
Healthcare providers and their vendors often fear federal regulatory action, but do fines and corrective action many any difference at all? As breach cases have nearly doubled since 2018, federal fines dropped 93% in 2022, and some say the agency is understaffed and crippled by legal challenges.
Is the ransomware problem getting better or worse? Unfortunately, gauging attack trends continues to be complicated by the fact that many incidents never come to light publicly and many victims are hesitant to say "ransomware" when describing what hit them, says Comparitech's Rebecca Moody.
Over 5,000 major health data breaches since 2009 have affected the personal information of 370 million people. Ransomware gangs and hackers are targeting healthcare providers, insurance firms and partners at an alarming rate. Experts explain why it's such a dangerous game.
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