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NHS data breaches are often the biggest

Most people believe their personal information is safe in the hands of medical processionals – but data breaches by the NHS are at the top of the list in terms of how often they happen.

Due to the sensitivity of the information that we hand over to the NHS, it is very private and personal information that could be leaked. It is not the same with handing information over to businesses or companies in which we can choose what information we wish to share with them. We have no option but to share lots of personal information with the NHS which can make it even more of a problem when a data breach occurs.

So it’s concerning to hear that one of the biggest offenders of leaks and breaches within the UK is the NHS!
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Hertfordshire Regal Chambers Surgery data leak results in £40,000 fine

An investigation carried out by the UK’s privacy watchdog has led to a Doctors Surgery in Hertfordshire being fined £40,000 for giving out personal medical information contrary to data laws.

The surgery, Regal Chambers, gave information to a woman’s estranged partner despite the practice being warned this might happen.

The information was formally requested by the ex-partner regarding the son he has with the woman. The data breach was discovered when the ex-partner filed medical reports in court against her.
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Police data leaks: a growing concern…

We trust the authorities with our personal information in some of our most distressing times which is why it’s important that the Police must protect the data they have on us. But is our data always safe in the hands of the authorities?

As Big Brother Watch found out in a report, the security of our data with the police might be something we should all perhaps be a bit more concerned about…
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Can computer monitors be hacked and used to snoop on you?

We are constantly being warned of different ways in which our data can be hacked. We have previously done posts on unsecured wireless keyboards and cameras, but now it appears there is another way hackers can gain access to our computers – through active screen snooping!

By exploiting unsecure monitors, hackers can manipulate screens and even spy on you.

Whilst we can agree that you should not always trust everything that you read online, we rarely question what we may see on our computer screen. But the information displayed on the screen may actually be false because it may have been manipulated.

In some cases, hackers will be extracting data without you even knowing it!
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Nurses stolen handbag causes potential data breach update

We covered this yesterday – the story about a nurse’s stolen handbag possibly causing a significant data breach, which has been a real cause for concern for those affected.

On 9^th July, in east Chesterton, an out of hours nurse who worked for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust  was visiting a patient when the out of hours vehicle she was using was broken into. Her handbag was stolen from the car, which contained a diary.

The diary contained information about 200 patients whom the nurse had been visiting for the last six months. The information contained in the diary included patient name, their address, and, for some, access information to their home.

The result of this is a potentially huge data breach for those whose details have been stolen.
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State hospital patients upset over data breach

Patients in America at Oregon State Hospital’s maximum security ward had their private information improperly shared by a hospital psychiatrist.

It happened on 9^th June where a psychiatrist ended up sending six recipients a photograph of a patient census sheet that had a list of patient’s names on it. The psychiatrist sent the image by accident; but this accident caused six people to be able to see patient’s names, treatment information, identification numbers, photos of the patient, and legal status.

A very serious breach!
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200 patients contacted after Nurse has bag stolen

A potential data breach may have taken place after a nurse had her handbag stolen when her car was broken into.

The car was an out-of-hour’s vehicle that a Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust nurse was using on the 9th of July and was parked outside a patient’s house in East Chesterton when the theft took place. Documents containing details of some 200 patients where inside the bag and may now be at risk of being leaked.
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Lawsuit filed against Banner Health after massive data breach

Although we deal with data leaks primarily over here in the UK, we report on the common ones in the U.S. as well as it serves to show just how serious and how often breaches, leaks, and hacks are happening.

It is an everyday problem.

In America, a lawsuit has been filed against healthcare system, Banner Health. The lawsuit against Banner Health is a class-action lawsuit that has been filed by a Glendale doctor, Dr. Howard Chen. The class-action is being brought because of a cyber-attack on Banner Health that resulted in 3.7 million patients, employees, cafeteria customers, and other people’s information being compromised.
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ID cards for health insurance company discloses data breach

Newkirk Products Inc, a company in America which provides ID cards for health insurance plans, has revealed that a data breach took place that allowed unauthorised access to a server that contained a wealth of member information.

The server that was hacked contained data which included names, addresses, and dates of birth for members. Banking or credit card details, medical information, and social security numbers, were reportedly not on the server, the company has said.

It is estimated about 3.3 million members of the insurance plan have been affected by the data breach, but there is no evidence that the data has been used inappropriately. As of yet…
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Ukrainian hacker reportedly steals wealth of medical documents

A cyber criminal from the Ukraine admitted on twitter to stealing 105,000 documents from the Central Ohio Urology Group. The documents included patient names, diagnosis information, addresses, and dates of birth. The Urology group is meant to be the second biggest health system in the state with 24 locations.

A screenshot was posted on twitter by the alleged cyber criminal listing stolen information with claims that some 156GB of data had been uploaded to a Google Drive.

No comment has been made by the Central Ohio Urology Group, but one thing is for sure: this is a serious breach.
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