HIPAA Fail: Over 1 Billion Medical Records Exposed Online

Despite numerous warnings from security researchers spanning several weeks, healthcare providers and institutions ignored security risks which has led to the leaking of millions of medical images onto the internet every day, according to a joint report by TechCrunch and health news site The Mighty. Even with heavy regulations pushing for the prioritization of cybersecurity, it often takes a back seat in health care environments. Additional security issues stem from knowledge gaps on how networks and systems work. Network configuration is often the cause for the leaking of medical images and data. Health care companies attempt to increase security by moving to the cloud, but that can give mixed results. Managed security service providers serving the health care industry must add layers of security, increase educational efforts, and persuade the medical community to take a more comprehensive and less patchwork approach to security.

Learn more: Epic HIPAA Fail: Over 1 Billion Medical Records Leaked Online