The HIPAA Privacy Rule (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) is a healthcare cybersecurity framework that mandates security standards for all HIPAA-covered entities. HIPAA aims to protect patient information in the public health sector and promote stronger cybersecurity policies. HIPAA standards have since been adopted worldwide and enforced as federal law in the United States.
Over the years, there have been countless cases of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) violations, which can result in significant financial penalties. Most are directly linked not to accidental employee misconduct or malicious intent but to a lack of understanding of HIPAA standards by healthcare organizations. Most cases involve poor implementation of security controls or lack of risk assessment auditing, to save money and avoid costly auditing.
Plex was breached by an unauthorized third-party gained who gained access to a proprietary database. The specific attack vector that facilitated the breach hasn’t been disclosed. According to Plex, cybercriminals “tunneled” their way through sophisticated cybersecurity mechanisms to gain access to sensitive customer data.
The CashApp data breach was caused by a former employee who accessed customer financial reports as an act of revenge against the company after their employment was terminated. According to the April 2, 2022 filing with the Securities Exchange Commission by Block (CashApp’s parent company), the employee required access to the financial reports as part of their daily duties.
HIPAA compliance is regulated by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and enforced by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR). In 2013, the final Omnibus rule was enacted, binding business associates - or third-party vendors - to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. This modification added another level of compliance complexity to an industry not accustomed to operating in the cybersecurity domain - the healthcare industry.
HECVAT (Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Toolkit) is a security assessment questionnaire that measures the cybersecurity risk of third-party vendors for higher education institutions. It helps universities ensure that their third-party vendors have implemented proper security practices and policies, which are measured against a comprehensive list of security controls, to protect the large amounts of sensitive data and personally identifiable information (PII) they manage.
A CISO (chief information security officer) is a company's senior executive responsible for developing, managing, and implementing its organization’s security program and improving its cybersecurity posture. The CISO oversees the information security programs, protects organizational data and assets, develops IT infrastructures, builds security teams, and handles the overall IT security of the company.
India’s ever-expanding digital infrastructure in the wake of the pandemic has escalated the demand for new, updated, and improved regulatory mandates for strengthening cybersecurity. Rampant cybersecurity incidents have been occurring weekly, alarming businesses, organizations, and individuals across India.
The Uber data breach began with the purchase of stolen credentials belonging to an Uber employee from a dark web marketplace. The hacker tried to log into Uber’s network with these credentials but was unsuccessful because the account was protected by MFA. To overcome this security barrier, the hacker contacted the employee and, while pretending to be a member of Uber’s security team, asked them to accept the MFA push notification sent to their phone.
Vice Society, the cybercriminal gang responsible for the attack, is believed to have used internal login credentials leaked on the dark web to access LAUSD’s network and launch the ransomware attack. Twenty-three internal LAUSD credentials were leaked on the dark web leading up to the attack, with at least one set granting access to LAUSD’s Virtual Private Network (VPN).
