Cancer patient sues, pictures leaked as part of breach

This article was mentioned as part of yesterday’s throwback Saturday Night program.

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The article is titled Cancer patient sues medical provider after ransomware group posts her photos online and it comes from Cyberscoop.
One of the questions we asked was why the place where this person was getting treated had photos stored in the first place? And the other question is, what parts were even showing? I mean, cancer is of course not the best thing to have, and of course pictures are valuable to see if they’re doing a good job treating it, but this … is behyond repair.

Nobody expects to have their photos of anything out without permission, especially with a hospital.

The first paragraph says:

A Pennsylvania cancer patient filed a lawsuit against the health care provider on Monday, claiming that the organization’s failure to protect her sensitive data amounts to negligence and a breach of its basic duties to safeguard her medical records.

Isn’t that a clear violation of HIPAA, the act that hospitals must follow to keep patient data as secure as possible?

This is not the first such problem, as hospitals have been breached within the past several years. It has been brought out more because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but I really hope that hospitals read this type of article and figure out if they’re at risk.

Yes, it was a ransomware attack, but still, education and teaching of what to look for and not to click on will be key.

The article goes in to much more detail than I can because it’s heavily linked, but it was braught up so I know if it is the case, we should post it.

Enjoy this one!