On November 26, 2018, Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) at Western Regional Medical Center submitted a HIPAA Email Breach to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Located in Bullhead City, Arizona, the email breach affected 41,948 individuals’ protected health information. CTCA is classified as a Healthcare Provider. According to reports:
Using phishing tactics, an unauthorized third party accessed an employee's email account in May. The fraudulent email appeared to have originated from a company executive, and the targeted employee inadvertently gave the hacker network login credentials. The hacker may have accessed patient information stored in the email account, including patient names, addresses, dates of birth, email addresses, phone numbers and/or medical information, as well as some Social Security numbers. The center launched an investigation into the incident, which revealed the unauthorized user may have accessed information in the email account for a short period of time on May 2. Within hours of the attack, the center's IT department told the employee to make a password change, the centers said. Although the center's investigation did not determine whether the hacker accessed any data, it said it is providing notice to patients as a precaution.
HHS Wall of Shame
The HHS Wall of Shame is a website under the jurisdiction of HHS that lists all HIPAA breaches reported within the last 24 months. The Wall of Shame displays breaches that are currently under investigation by the Office for Civil Rights. As part of section 13402(e)(4) of the HITECH Act, the HHS Secretary must post a list of breaches of unsecured protected health information affecting 500 or more individuals.
HIPAA Breach Report
The Paubox HIPAA Breach Report analyzes breaches that affected 500 or more individuals as reported in the HHS Wall of Shame.
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