Security in the COVID-19 Era

Focusing on privacy and security in the coronavirus new normal

As healthcare organizations do battle against COVID-19, they also must stay on vigilant defense against cybercriminals intent on taking advantage of the crisis to sow chaos and disrupt clinical processes: barraging inboxes with pandemic-themed phishing emails, perpetrating hospital-crippling ransomware attacks, taking aim at public health agencies and vaccine research facilities.

Meanwhile, there are new places to safeguard and secure – whether they're hastily-erected ad hoc field hospitals or massively scaled up telehealth deployments. And fast-expanding efforts at contact tracing present their own unique and challenging privacy implications. In other words, just as it has with everything else, the pandemic is fundamentally changing approaches to security, and these new strategies will continue to evolve with this new normal.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

News
In a recent HIMSS20 Digital presentation, Microsoft M365 Security and Compliance CTO Hemma...
By Kat Jercich |
News
The speed and scale at which healthcare organizations have had to embrace cloud hosting, often...
By Mike Miliard |
News
The medical school was hit by an opportunistic malware attack on June 1, and the encrypted data was...
By Mike Miliard |
News
As virtual health deployments scale up and become routine, everyone – vendors, clinicians,...
By Mike Miliard |
News
A commanding 94% majority of respondents to a new Black Hat survey says the pandemic has increased...
By Kat Jercich |
News
As new distributed ledger platforms have emerged, the tech has shown promise for the security of...
By Kat Jercich |
News
Two compliance experts discuss how healthcare providers should address protected healthcare...
By Bill Siwicki |
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In a new investigation by Amnesty International, the two Gulf states and Norway have released apps...
By Ahmed El Sherif |
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More than 40% of survey respondents said they didn't trust any organization to keep their data...
By Kat Jercich |
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The Norwegian Institute of Public Health will delete all collected data and suspend operations to...
By Sophie Porter |
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The 25-bed hospital, which did not pay the ransom, is still working to get full access to files...
By Kat Jercich |
Babylon Health app
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The error allowed a patient to access video recordings of another patient’s consultation.
By Tammy Lovell |
Security professional at a workstation
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Experts say the coronavirus pandemic acts like "blood in the water" for cybercriminals...
By Kat Jercich |
A three-person security team
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Experts say a functioning system should be based on understanding your workforce, your technology...
By Kat Jercich |
News
The Exposure Notification Privacy Act requires public health officials to be involved with any...
By Kat Jercich |
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Big transitions can present an opportunity to enact security improvements, but they can also make a...
By Kat Jercich |
News
Hackers are taking advantage of provider distraction to breach health systems.
By Mallory Hackett |
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A recent sample of 50 worldwide COVID-19 apps published in Nature Medicine highlights found only 16...
By Dave Muoio |
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The telemedicine vendor doesn't store patient data, explained founder Brandon Welch, and relies...
By Kat Jercich |
Video
Mansur Hasib, also known as "Dr. Cybersecurity" and author of the book Cybersecurity...
By HIMSS TV |
News
According to an Amnesty International investigation, personal information, including names,...
By Laura Lovett |
Video
HIMSS Director of Privacy and Security Lee Kim offers insights for health systems as they defend...
By HIMSS TV |
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Healthcare IT News staff discuss how security pros are coping with opportunistic attacks. Plus, a...
By Healthcare IT News |
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Phishing is still the number-one cause of breaches, according to the newly released BakerHostetler...
By Kat Jercich |
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The legislation would forbid companies from using health information for "discriminatory,...
By Kat Jercich |
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Even as ONC and CMS push for wider patient data sharing, many healthcare consumers are hesitant...
By Kat Jercich |
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Persistent flaws in the ability to accurately ID and match patient records are hindering two must-...
By Mike Miliard |
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The HIMSS chief clinical officer says technology can be used more effectively to plan for...
By Piers Ford |
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Acronis believes it is likely cybercriminals will target government agencies, healthcare facilities...
By Rachel McArthur |
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Ad hoc COVID-19 medical centers have a unique set of vulnerabilities: They're remote, they sit...
By Nathan Eddy |
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And that's not counting more than 240 million daily spam messages launched at Gmail users that...
By Nathan Eddy |
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As opportunistic attacks ramp up, the groups offer recommendations for VPNs and cloud-based...
By Nathan Eddy |
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"Cyber criminals will use a time of crisis to cover some of their actions in a very...
By Mike Miliard |
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While European governments look to digital health technology for ways to speed up their containment...
By Piers Ford |
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The World Health Organization has reportedly seen attempted cyberattacks double since the onset of...
By Nathan Eddy |
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Intelligence agencies, security firms and Big Tech giants and all ringing alarm bells over the...
By Nathan Eddy |
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The hospital has one of the largest COVID-19 testing facilities in the Czech Republic.
By Sophie Porter |
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The agency was subject to a hacking attempt on Sunday, designed to slow down its COVID-19 pandemic...
By Mike Miliard |
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Cybersecurity firm CynergisTek is using AI to help hospitals detect unauthorized access to...
By Mike Miliard |