Content by Marianne Kolbasuk McGee

Medical Device Cyber Risk: An Enterprise Problem

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 12, 2019

Medical device cybersecurity risks should be viewed as an enterprise problem, say Tracey Hughes of Duke University Health Systems and Clyde Hewitt of security consultancy CynergisTek, who outline critical security steps.

Keeping Incident Response Plans Current

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 12, 2019

Many healthcare organizations are falling short in their incident response plans, says Mark Dill, principal consultant at tw-Security. The former director of information security at the Cleveland Clinic discusses best practices for keeping those programs current in an interview at the HIMSS19 conference.

HIPAA Enforcement Update: Areas of Focus

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 12, 2019

The HHS Office for Civil Rights is paying particular attention to complaints involving patients' access to their health information; it's also focusing on investigations of organizations with patterns of HIPAA noncompliance, Nick Heesters of the agency explains in an interview at the HIMSS19 conference.

Assessing IoT Risks in Healthcare Environments

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 11, 2019

Healthcare organizations should steer clear of connecting internet of things devices to their networks unless they serve a precise medical purpose, says attorney Julia Hesse, a featured speaker at the HIMSS19 Conference.

Health Data Security: The Most Promising Technologies

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 11, 2019

Analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning are increasingly playing promising roles in healthcare data security, say Ron Mehring, CISO at Texas Health Resources, a large delivery system, and Axel Wirth of Symantec, a technology vendor. They were featured speakers at the HIMSS19 conference.

Cottage Health Hit With $3 Million HIPAA Settlement

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 8, 2019

Federal regulators have hit a California-based healthcare provider with a $3 million HIPAA settlement related to two breaches involving misconfigured IT. It's the latest in a recent series of hefty penalties issued in HIPAA cases.

HIMSS19: Cybersecurity in the Spotlight

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 7, 2019

Once again, cybersecurity issues will be in the spotlight at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Conference, to be held Feb. 11-15 in Orlando, Fla.

EHR Vendor Greenway Gets Hefty Fine for False Claims

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 7, 2019

For the second time, the Department of Justice has imposed a substantial fine on an electronic health records software vendor in a case that involves data accuracy and integrity issues that could affect patient safety.

Bolstering the Cybersecurity of Medical Devices

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 6, 2019

As cybersecurity threats in the healthcare sector evolve, medical device manufacturer ICU Medical is taking a number of steps to help safeguard its products. Chaitanya Srinivasamurthy and Marshall Fryman of the company describe these security initiatives.

Settlement Reached in Community Health Systems Breach Suit

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 5, 2019

A $3.1 million proposed settlement has been reached in a data breach class action lawsuit against Community Health Systems stemming from a 2014 cyberattack that affected 4.5 million individuals. Why are settlements in data breach cases still relatively rare?

Health Data Breach Tally: What's New?

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 4, 2019

Some 22 health data breaches reported to regulators in 2019 - including hacking incidents and thefts of unencrypted devices - already have been added to the official federal tally, with business associates involved in six of the largest incidents.

Aetna Fined Yet Again for Exposing HIV Information

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  February 1, 2019

California's attorney general has slapped Aetna with a substantial financial penalty in the latest enforcement action against the health insurer following a 2017 breach involving HIV information.

Privacy: Several States Consider New Laws

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  January 31, 2019

Several U.S. states are considering new legislation to shore up consumer data privacy laws in the wake of California passing strict privacy requirements last year. What's in the pipeline?

A CISO on the Value of Endpoint Detection and Response

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  January 30, 2019

Endpoint detection and response tools and other related security technologies are critical weapons for defending against cyberattacks, says Larry Whiteside, the new CISO at Greenway Health, an electronic health records company.

HIV Data Exposed Online

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  January 29, 2019

Information about more than 14,000 HIV patients included in a Singapore health registry was exposed online in what appears to be an inside job. The incident illustrates the importance of safeguarding sensitive health data, such as by implementing behavioral analytics.