Security Breaches Of Medical Data Down, Yet 446,0000 Patients Still Impacted By Cyberattacks Last Month
Providers, insurers and other health care business associates reported 38 breaches in April. During the same month last year, 50 breaches were reported. In other health information technology news, the Red Cross calls on the world's governments to take "immediate and decisive" action against medical hackers, especially during such a crucial time as the pandemic.
Healthcare providers, insurers and their business associates reported 38 breaches affecting nearly 446,000 patients to the federal government last month. That's down 55.8% from the number of patients affected in breaches reported in April of last year, when organizations reported 50 breaches affecting just over 1 million people, according to data from the HHS' Office for Civil Rights, the agency that maintains the government's database of healthcare breaches. In March 2020, organizations reported 39 breaches that exposed data on more than 834,000 people. (Cohen, 5/22)
The Red Cross called for an end to cyberattacks on healthcare and medical research facilities during the coronavirus pandemic, in a letter published Tuesday and signed by a group of political and business figures. Such attacks endanger human lives and governments must take 鈥渋mmediate and decisive action鈥 to stop them, the letter stated. (Bing, 5/26)
