Medical records arguably contain a person’s most personal information that they would not want to be made public under any circumstances. Unfortunately, hackers don’t limit themselves to targeting cities, cell phone companies, and banks; they are out for your medical data as well. According to a recent hipaasecurenow.com article, back in March of this year, an employee working for Adirondack Health had their email hacked, giving the hacker access to the account for two days.
The hack occurred right before the employee planned to send out a spreadsheet containing over 25,000 patient names, birthdays, and Medicare ID, health insurance and social security numbers. While hacks of this nature are generally a result of phishing emails, this wasn’t the case for this incident, and was deemed “unavoidable” by Adirondack’s spokesperson. Adirondack’s spokesperson went on to state that they will be changing certain policies as a result of the incident.
While Adirondack was caught off guard this situation, this doesn’t have to be the fate for everyone. Cybercriminals are constantly coming up with new ways to infiltrate systems, which is why it is wise to hire an expert who specializes in staying one step ahead of the criminals. At PerusITy, OptfinITy’s cybersecurity division, we do just that, and we would love to protect your organization from cyberthreats. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your organization’s cybersecurity, don’t hesitate to give us a call at 571-370-5777 or visit PerusITy’s website at www.perusity.com.
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