The medical industry is historically one sector of industry that has benefited most from the introduction of technology. But what is the downside what about cyber-attacks? No matter what kind of attack, it is important to acknowledge that the results could be catastrophic. Consider also that recent incidents, including the cyber-attack of UCLA Health, which runs four hospitals in the university's campus, and CVS Health Corp's CVSPhoto.com have demonstrated that even well protected networks are vulnerable to external attacks of ever-increasing sophistication.
The FBI and private computer forensic experts are looking into the attack of UCLA Health that put as many as 4.5 million individuals at risk, although so far there isn't evidence that individuals' personal or medical information was actually accessed or acquired during the breach.
UCLA Health is offering individuals who may have been affected by the cyber-attack with services for identity recovery and restoration to reduce risks, fee or charge for 12 months. UCLA Health will be sending letter to affected individuals to provide them with details for accessing the identify theft services being offered.
Meanwhile, a similar breach resulted in CVS's online photo service, CVSPhoto.com, shutting down access to online and related mobile services. According to CVSPhoto.com, "customer credit card information collected by the independent vendor who manages and hosts CVSPhoto.com may have been compromised." CVS has not yet revealed how many customers were impacted by the breach.
According to CVS, payments of CVSPhoto.com are processed independently from CVS.com and CVS pharmacies. Customers who shopped at CVS online or in store should not be affected by the breach.
Using your HCP compliance program resources to improve health information sharing and cyber security, you can begin to reduce the risk and exposure that comes with the adoption of new technologies which improve your service delivery and patient care.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact one of our professionals consultants.